#did i just take a quote from Fallout 4?

[mogai-reblog]

As pride month is coming to a close, here's a positivity post for people who are often not included in these types of posts!!

For the hijras, for the tritiya prakritis, for the Hindu queers, for the Muslim queers, for the Christian queers, for the Jewish queers, for any religious queers, for the people who have a specific cultural/religious identity and thus doesn't see themselves as queer/LGBTQIA+, for the pangender agenders, for the mspec monospecs, for the gaybians, for the gais, for the strayts, for the nonbinary people who consider themselves straight, for the cis intersex people, for the straight people who are in a relationship with a nonbinary person and sees it as queer despite them being straight!, for the Palestinian queers both alive and dead, for the severely disabled queers, for the mid-high support needs queers, for the intellectually disabled queers

For the overshadowed people, for the hated people.

Of the people, for the people

[danses-with-dogmeat]

Fallout Characters' Lover's Embrace Quotes -- Extras

(Original ask): Hello 😊 I absolutely adore everything you do for the characters you write for! You get the interactions and such perfect every time I read something new 💕 I have a personal headcanon, not full blown request if you don't want it to be, question for you. If you could romance the companions in New Vegas like in 4, what would some of their lovers embrace quotes be? I love how you think and can't wait to hear what ideas you have for any of the characters ❤ have a good day

So I didn't actually get any requests for these specific characters that I can remember, but I had this in my WIPs folder, and had a good time looking back on them, so here they are!

As always, if you would like me to add any characters to this, please let me know, and I'll be happy to 😊

Also, here's a link to my first Lover's Embrace Quotes post with the FO3 and FNV Companions.

Just a heads up, too, a bit of nsfw below the cut (nothing explicit, but definitely some implicit stuffs).

Fallout 4:

Codsworth: 

“Prepared to face the day, sir/madam?”

“Oh my, now that was exciting!” 

“Your hair, sir/miss. Allow me to fix it for you?” 

“Good morning, sir/madam!” 

“My, you are truly amazing, my sweet.” 

Deacon:

“Whoa, when did you get here?” 

“Up for one more round? No?... Yes?”

“Just another minute. Then we can kick some ass or whatever.”

“Gooood morning! And it is a beautiful day out in the Commonwealth, the weather is looking mighty fine in this– Oh, you’re up? Okay, just making sure.” 

“Up and at ‘em, right boss?” 

“Wow. That was fun.” 

Maxson:

“Sleep well?” 

“I’ll take that over morning drills any day. No, I don’t need you to tell Kells that.” 

“Head’s still swimming…” 

“Don’t make me get up, not yet.” 

“Damn… Incredible.” 

Nick:

“Can’t take my eyes off you….” 

“Ain’t I the luckiest synth there is?” 

“Say… where’d my cuffs get off to, doll? May need ‘em for later.” 

"Well, that's one way to get the coolant pumping." (I know this is already a line of his, but I mean come on. It's too good not to use)

“What do you say, about ready to go?” 

“That sure was somethin’, sweetheart.”

Sturges:

“Mornin’ gorgeous/handsome.” 

“Ain’t nothin’ better than wakin’ up like that.” 

“You really are incredible, you know that?” 

“What a perfect way to start my day… wakin’ up next to you.”

“*whistles* That was somethin,’ baby.”

X6-88:

“Good morning, ma’am/sir.” 

“Awake quite yet?” 

“Damn.” 

“Sleep well, ma’am/sir?”

“I… Didn’t know I could feel like that…” 

Fallout 3:

Mr. Burke: 

“I suppose there are worse ways to wake up.” 

“Care for some coffee?” 

“Just a moment more, sweet one.” 

“Ahh, you vixen/scoundrel.”

“Just turn over. It can’t be time yet.” 

Harkness: 

“Starting our day off right, I see.”

“It can’t really be time to get up, can it?” 

“Mm, good morning…”

“What’re you… Oh? Well, a few more minutes, then.” 

“Babe, have you seen my handcuffs?”

Sarah Lyons: 

“Up and at ‘em. Come on.” 

“Oh, good, you’re finally up.” 

“The others better not have heard us.” 

“Quit your groaning, it’s not that early.” 

“Best to have a shower after all that.” 

Fallout New Vegas:

Benny: 

“Ring-a-ding, baby. Time to rise.” 

“Easy there, squeeze. Save some for tonight.” 

“Can’t be time yet. Stay here awhile, lemme hold ya.” 

“Geeze baby, you wear me out.” 

“24-karate, pussy cat. Just platinum...” 

Colonel Hsu:  

"Right, then... Up we get."

“Well… that was an excellent performance. Top marks from me, private.”

“Rise and shine, love.” 

“Now that was worth waking for at this hour.” 

“Wish we had a few more moments…”

Joshua Graham:

“Just… divine.” 

“Care to pray with me this morning?” 

“Wake up, dear one.” 

“Praise be to Him who lights the sky…” 

“Ahh… still, your love heals me.” 

Ulysses: 

"Be slow, beloved. We can take our time."

“Another sunrise…”

“Time to wake.” 

“So… It wasn’t a dream. Hm.” 

*huffing* “Need another rest after that.” 

Victor: 

“Shoo, didn’t know you had that in ya.” 

“Where to today, pardner?”

“You look like I dug ya outta that grave again, hehe. Only teasin’.”

“Well, how-dy.” 

“Mornin,’ pardner. How’d you sleep?” 

Vulpes:

“Awake at last? Good.” 

“Mm. Expect the same from me tonight, courier.” 

“Ave, amica mea.” 

“Ah, to hear my name sound from your lips… A fine sound this morning.” 

“Expergiscimini. The sun has risen.” 

Yes Man: 

“Wow, Six, that was the best way to start the day!”

“I sure am glad to have you by my side.” 

“Rise and shine!” 

“What a great morning it is!”

“Boy, that sure was fun! Ready to make a difference today?” 

[newvegascowboy]

Okokok I wanna know your opinion on the Followers of the Apocalypse cause I personally love them a lot, favorite faction.

That’s mainly because they’re only faction in the wasteland who aren’t imperialists and actually believe in mutual aid and science, it’s incredible. They’re just such a good spark of hope and while they aren’t super nuanced, the fact that they show there’s always a better way is enough for me.

FUCK I FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS

I thought up a long reply while I was falling asleep and I basically have forgotten all of it, but the gist was that I think they're great and I'd like to know more about them.

In order to find other similar factions, we have to look to other games. Fallout 4 tends to flatten out its morality into Good Or Bad, and even factions that are meant to be a bit more morally neutral, as I suspect the Brotherhood to have been, lacks a lot of nuance that would have made them a more interesting faction. The Minutemen are the only other faction I can think of that were strictly dedicated to public service, and there was internal friction that led to their eventual decline. I don't think this is dissimilar to the schism that had the Khans split off from the Followers (although unfortunately, i think the followers are subject to a bit of moralism from the writers vis a vis drugs and addiction. Julie Farkas says some pretty sus things about addicts which sounds more like the person who writes her rather than someone of her character and beliefs would actually say.)

I also think its interesting that the Followers were indirectly the source of the birth of the Legion. I think Edward Sallow being a former Follower is very interesting. I suspect he was drawn to the idea of the free education and resources that were offered by the Followers, which also probably have him a subconscious idea about how to influence vulnerable people. If you know how to help people, you know how to hurt them, too. His rules around drugs and sexuality were no doubt influenced by Joshua Graham, but with the general medical and scientific background the Followers seem to have, I wouldn't be surprised if Edward spent some time studying psychology. He built the Legion on the inverse of the Followers philosophy.

I'd be pretty interested in hearing more about Edward's youth and background, especially if anyone is left to remember him as a young Follower. How did he perform? Was he uninterested in helping, or was he SO interested in helping he decided to take the people's choice in it away?

In general, the Followers remind me of that quote "Look for the helpers". I think it's rare that the group as a whole is dedicated to helping, but it's also refreshing to see there are people trying to do good at no benefit to themselves. I wish we had more representation for the Followers. I'd love to see them in future games.

LOVE U FOLLOWERS OF THE APOCALYPSE

[its-in-the-woods]

Coyote Head - Part 11 - Screams in the woods

master list

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part9, Part 10,

Pairing: Cooper Howard x Lucy Maclean 

Includes many other characters from Fallout

Synopsis: Lucy reaches for him, “Don’t let go!”

MINOR GET OUT. Rating/Warning:  Animal/people death, dead animal mutilation, general horror, religious themes, Alternative Universe, Slow Burn, Death, Aging, Family Feuding, Older Man/Younger Woman,

Note: that I will not be spoiling any of the reading. So you have been warned. I will keep my tags relevant without spoiling what is happening in the story.

**Strap in and get ready for a ride kiddos**

Harris and Margie are looking between Cooper and Lucy, the Bible between them. Lucy had brought it over to show them and ask questions about the names on the front page, but she was now being stonewalled. The whole thing felt ridiculous, Lucy was still doubting the validity of any of what was happening.

“I don’t know about these names,” Harris said, looking over the names, his glasses making his eyes look huge. The large man had been on edge since they arrived, his shoulder scrunched body tight.

Lucy blows some air out through her nose, “You said you were lookin’ for the bible, the night me and Cooper got attacked.”

Margie glares at Harris, “Harris, for Saint Peter’s sake, just tell the girl what you know. Or I will piece together what I can, and give her what I know.”

Harris sighs, Cooper looking at Lucy trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Lucy shrugs at him, fiddling with her cup, her fingers itching for a cigarette. It had been a bad idea to start that up while all this stress was happening.

“Margie, you know I was never close with my Dad. Anything he knew about the bible was passed to Tim. Not to me.” Harris was still trying to skirt the subject, fingers twisting around each other as he looked at everyone. 

“Oh, horseshit!” Margie hollered, the little woman’s face going red, as she glared at him. Lucy was taken aback by the sudden outburst. “Fine. Fine.”

Margie stood up grabbing a black jar and pouring a tall glass. “None of you get any, 'cause I sure ain’t in the mood.” 

Harris, Lucy, and Cooper both cringing back as if being scolded with a belt. Lucy’s heart pounding as she tries to keep herself composed, hoping against hope she gets some answers. 

“Now, the MacLean’s have always had secrets. Their crops always good, and cows are always plump. Back in the day before vaccines, they barely ever lost a child. Heck, I barely ever saw any of them get sick.” Margie took a sip of her black drink. “Now we all had theories, all wondered what they were doing. They never cut back more forest than they needed, and always leased at low rates. Yet they wanted for nothing.”

Margie takes a moment to look at everyone, at the table, before she continues. 

“Then Albert died, and Tim took over. What Harris won’t tell y’all is that the whole family had been practicing devil magic.” Margie states no venom behind her words. “Bring offerings to this forest spirit, god, whatever. Not for me to judge.” 

Cooper fiddles with the edge of his cup, his shoulders moving forward, as he makes himself smaller. Lucy felt her stomach twist, she had never been religious, but calling it devil magic seemed too harsh. Even with the Anton Lavey quote in her Grandpa’s handwriting. 

“Whatever Tim did, it worked. But your Grandma was raised in the church. I loved Shirley and she put up with a lot of stuff. When Tim wanted to bring Hank into the fold.” Margie looked over at Harris.  “She said no. Said all of it had to stop, wasn’t going to be a part of it passing down.”

Harris shifts, taking his glasses off and putting them on the table. “As soon as Tim stopped, things started to go south. It wasn’t instant. It was little things, minor flooding in a field that had never flooded before. Seeds not taking as well as they should. Losing more calves than normal.” 

Margie nods, letting out a sigh, she got up and brought some glasses over. Pouring small amounts for each, before sitting down, still glaring at her husband as he speaks about his family.

“We wrote it off as a bad year.” Harris sighs, fiddling with the cup but not taking a sip. “But it kept getting worse, and worse. Blanche kept telling Harris that he needed to start doing the offering again.” 

Lucy took a sip of the black drink, it was bitter, but also strangely sweet, most likely gooseberries. 

“Shirley kept saying no, and then Blanche died.” Harris swallows, “Found her lying right by her chickens.” He finally takes a drink, wincing at the sweetness. “All her chickens were gone, and the thing had taken her eyes.” 

Cooper looks pale as he stares down at his cup, Lucy finishing hers in a quick swig. She rubs her hand along his knee hoping to help ease him. The thought of her great grandma laid out dead by her prized chickens was horrid.

“So, Tim decided it was time to start up again.” Harris says, “Shirley was beside herself, thought her husband had lost it. “

“But it worked,” Lucy spoke, “Things got better, crops grew, cows birthed easily, no one got sick anymore.” 

Harris nods, finally sipping the drink, “I didn’t want to believe it either. How could bringing a loaf of bread, or bundle of herbs, make the ground seem so much richer.” 

“Why didn’t you tell Lucy?” Cooper interjects, fingers running over the rim of the glass in several circles. 

Harris leans back, taking another small sip of the liquid, Margie pouring everyone a little more of the makeshift brew. 

“Tim said it ended with him.” Harris finally spoke, “When he came to tell me he was dying.” The man looked out into his yard, eyes glassy as he spoke. “He was different, it was the first time I’d seen him look so content with life. Tim kept going on and on about how it was finally going to be over. That he would finally be free, the whole family won’t have to worry anymore.”

“We should have told you Lucy, should have been more forward about the whole situation. But Tim was adamant it was over,” Margie adds, Lucy feels a cold spread of anxiety spill from her ribs out into her stomach. 

“But then we found the coyote head, us being attacked in the trailer,” Lucy states, “But you still kept it from me.”

“I didn’t think you’d be ready for this, especially after what happened. We wanted to give it some time. So you could heal before we dropped the family past on you.” Harris replies, reaching to squeeze Lucy’s hand. She pulls away, a feeling of betrayal still sitting tight in her chest. 

“You’ve barely been here two months,” Margie states trying to calm the room. “We know now, and we can help make it right.”

Lucy shakes her head, “We don’t even know what we need to make right.” She slides her chair backward. “We are going to go help John this afternoon. After that, we should all sit down and go over the journals and bible together, maybe?” 

Harris’ brows furrowed, “Lucy, I don’t think it’s wise to go in there. I know you want to help-”

“It’s my land, my property, my problem,” Lucy states as she stands up, “I am not sitting on the sidelines anymore.”

***

Lucy, Cooper, John, and Bert stand at the edge of the forest, Lucy had done up a crude map of the trails she could mostly remember. She had photocopied them so each person had one, radios, and compasses were passed around. Each ATV was checked over making sure fuel tanks were full. Guns carefully strapped into place, along with extra clips. Lucy hoped they wouldn't need them. On top of that they strapped on crates with rope, knives, tools, and first aid kits, along with anything else they might need. 

“So we each take a trail, stick to the path, mark it as we go so we can find our way out. The yellow fence line is parkland, we won’t go past that. Barbwire is either John’s land to the west or Cooper’s to the east. If you make it that far there should be gates that you can use to circle back up to the road. See anything-” Lucy stops her speech for a moment collecting herself. “I mean anything, weird, strange, cow, whatever, you radio. There is no point in any of us getting hurt. Sunsets around nine, but we should try to get out by no later than eight.”

The men nod, at her words, Lucy surprising herself by how calm and level-headed she felt. Not to mention the men listening to her, and not arguing with what she had to say. It felt odd being the one in charge, but this was also her land. It didn’t feel like hers, it didn’t feel like anyones, but if there was anyone who needed to be held accountable for it it was Lucy. She was tired and scared, but she was not going back down, not now.

“The radios we have should cover the whole area without an issue, if you run into issues and can’t get a hold of us come back here,” Cooper adds, making sure everyone nods. “All the families have been told if they don’t hear from us by nine to send emergency crews in.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Bert chirps, looking out towards the gaping mouth of the forest. 

Lucy inwardly cringing, she and Cooper had decided not to fill in the others about the supernatural possibilities. Having people scared would help no one. Lucy wasn’t even sure she fully believed any of it. Was something really haunting the woods? Was her grandfather really feeding it? Had it taken her Dad? 

“It’s just precaution,” John adds, peering towards their destination and waking Lucy from her musing. “Never know, better safe than sorry.” 

“Well, let’s get going.” Bert smiles, jumping onto the four-wheel, he starts it up and takes off towards the trees. 

Lucy feels her heart clench in her chest, a low ringing buzz just above the sound of the engine. She takes off after Bert, heading down southeast, Cooper goes directly east, Bert goes southwest, and John goes west. The trees had fully flushed out, leaves defusing the light, and the trails were clear despite having not been used much. She rode at a good clip, fast enough to keep moving but slow enough to take in what was around her. 

The radio sits on her handlebars crackled occasionally, Lucy wanted to stop every time it made a sound, but made herself continue. Every shadow, discoloration, and movement had her head turning. The further she went, the darker the place seemed to get. The hair on her arm starts to stand up, even under the heavy sweater. She couldn’t help but look over her shoulder, feeling like something was following her. Something was watching her, just on the other side of a tree or bush. 

Lucy stops as the radio crackles, her heart pounding in her chest, waiting to hear anything. When nothing came Lucy went to start up again, when a twig snapped to her right. Head turning almost painfully fast to look that way, nothing. Another snapped behind her, hair prickling at the back of her neck. Turning slower this time, Lucy nearly screams, as a black shadow slinks away behind a tree. 

Her hand is on the radio now, tensed up in a panic, her shoulder gathered up against her ears. With no other movement, she goes to turn the machine back on when it crackles.

“This is John, did someone else go directly west?” John’s voice crackles across the forest. Lucy grabs her compass from her pocket seeing that she is still pointing mostly southwest. 

“Lucy here, I am heading southwest,” Lucy replies, Bert comes over the radio saying that he is also mostly south. It was a tense moment before Cooper replies that he had turned so that he was going northeast. 

“Alright, umm, guess we’ll call that weird then. I am gonna start heading up the northwest side towards the gate.” John radios, before it goes silent again. She couldn’t help but hear the hesitation in his voice, whatever was out there had spotted them.

Lucy takes one last look around her, eyes narrowing in on the grey flesh of a stripped tree stump. She gets off her ATV and walks towards it, her heart thudding against her ears. The image of a fresh coyote head on top of stripped wood flashed in her mind. As she walks up to it she can see bones lying around. If you weren’t looking for it, it would have just blended into the forest. She stops a yard or so from it. The tingling feeling of anxiety rushes down her neck like cold water. 

Turning around in a full circle Lucy could just see further another stump. She would bet money that it was also surrounded by bones. Walking quickly back to her ATV she pulls out the map and marks it approximately. How many were out here?  Was this like the stumps that were in the bible? The illustration had shown sigils or ruins, but now they were worn from years of wear.

She turns her ATV on and continues southeast, eyes peeled for any other out-of-place signs. As she drove she would stop and note down other stumps, if she went and stood at one looking west she could see all of them in what was becoming a half-moon shape. Four total, Lucy’s gut feeling was there would be thirteen, one for each month. Placed on purpose, spaced evenly, all surrounded by bone. Every single one made her skin crawl and made her wonder if she was losing her mind. 

The radio crackled again, Lucy stopping immediately and listening. More crackling, muffled noises, then nothing. Her heart lurched, stomach twisting as she waited for any word. 

“I think-” Interference, “A cow,” It was Bert, “Least what’s left off it.”

“Where are you?” Lucy asked, already turning the machine around so that she could head in the right direction. She’d start to head west and hope that she could find Bert.

“If you head to the main trail-” Static, Lucy fires up the ATV keeping the radio turned up. “Southwest-” Lucy strained to hear, “-go directly south.” His voice seemed softer and softer and Lucy roared towards him. “next fork - west“

“Roger, roger,” We are heading your way, Cooper's voice rang over the radio. She felt her heart clench knowing that he was not far away, it was both comforting and concerning. 

“Shouldn’t be far,” John added, Lucy's heart thundering in her chest, fingers aching from holding onto the handlebars so tightly. She kept looking over her shoulder, searching for something in the woods she couldn’t see. The bumps and jumps of the machine propelled her forward. The trees opened into the middle clearing, Lucy skillfully following down southwest. Behind her she could make out the roar of another engine, looking back she could just make out Cooper’s white hat. 

It was a comfort knowing that he was close behind her, hitting the fork she went south. Her radio crackling but nothing, she continued along the path ducking past brushes as they slapped towards her. Mouth dry as she tries to urge the thing forward. A burst of static echoed louder than the previous almost stopping Lucy. 

“HELP,” 

Lucy grabbed the walkie doing her best to continue to drive one-handed. “BERT.”

“It’s here,”

“What what is it,” John calls out over the radio. “I am not far, Bert. Hold on.”

“Oh god,” 

“Oh god.”

Lucy clipped the walkie back on, riding as fast as the old ATV would go, she could hear Cooper not far behind her. As she hit the fork to head west a scream rang out, Lucy felt her ears ring. Her eyes blurring as the world spun, she blinks several times trying to make her eyes work. 

“Bert, Bert,” Cooper called over and over, Lucy hearing his voice behind her and in front of her as they roared towards their destination. 

Lucy spotting John flying up coming to join the west trail, his hat had been lost somewhere along the way. Lucy slows down to let him go ahead, Cooper now only a dozen yards behind her. Bushes and trees slap her face as they road toward Bert should have been.

As they came up over a hill Lucy had a split second of red lights warning her as she skidded to a stop just beside John. The man was off his ATV, gun in hand as he made his way over to the empty four-wheeler. Lucy parked hers, grabbing her gun and extra clip in her pocket. Cooper is skidding to a stop a moment behind them, the three of them gathering at the empty ATV.  There are skid marks behind the machine, a few scuffs in the ground, and his gun was gone. 

“Bert,” Lucy calls out, his name echoing through the tree, her voice bouncing around like she was in a funhouse. “Bert! Come on, answer us!”

“No sign of the Bert, or the cow,” John says, looking around the place, all of them naturally staying close to each other. Lucy faces one way, and Cooper faces the opposite of her. A perfect triangle as they move. “No sign of anything really.”

Cooper moves over, Lucy watching him as he walks past the ATV. Her eyes spotted what he was looking at, another stump, stripped of bark. Some of the symbols were more pronounced on this one, almost looking fresh.

“Is that another stump?” Lucy asks, moving towards where Cooper is now crouching down. He’d take out a knife to uncover some bones that lay covered in dirt around it. Lucy reaching out to trace over the ruins, the ringing in her ears stopping as she followed them all over the stump.

Cooper looks up, his hazel eyes barely visible under the shadow of his hat, “I saw some when I was driving around. All had bones around them like this.”

“W-w-what are those?” John’s face was pale, his hand fiddling with the stock of his gun. He had walked over to stand near the other two. 

“I am not sure. I don’t remember seeing this many before.” Lucy replies, trying to keep her voice level and calm. Her mind played over all the different illustrations of symbols, people standing around a stump. The face of the coyote flashed behind her eyes. 

“But these are old. Like really old.” John points out, jumping when a twig breaks, his breath is ragged as he looks around. 

Lucy and Cooper both stand looking towards the noise, Cooper swiftly pocketing the knife to replace it with the rifle. They all stand for a moment, the silence swallowing them. 

“Bert! Bert!” Lucy calls out again, hoping that it was him walking back towards them. “Where are you? Call out so we can come get you.”

John was now backing up towards his ATV, Lucy could see that he was shaking as he looked out towards the forest. It felt darker, much darker than it should have been for mid-afternoon. It was as if all the light was slowly being sucked out from around them. 

“Somethin’s wrong,” Cooper murmured, making Lucy jump as his hand clasps her shoulder. He was starting to push her towards the four-wheelers, she could feel her heart start to hammer in her chest. 

“We should call Harris,” Lucy says the dread had now seeped into her bones. Cooper was right, Bert wasn’t replying and there was no sign of him.

“No signal this deep in.” John replied phone in a shaky hand, “Probably thirty minutes from anywhere that would have a signal.”

Another twig snap had them all whirling, again facing nothing but trees and bushes. 

Lucy

Ringing splitting Lucy’s head as her name came spilling from every direction. Double over she covers her ears, trying to get it to stop. Cooper is in the same position, forehead creased as he groans. John stares at both of them as he stands perfectly still, eyes wide, phone dropping to the ground as his mouth falls open.

Cooper

John swings around, clearly hearing what they are. Lucy slowly tries to right herself, her eyes blurry as she tries to focus. Cooper leaning heavily against the stump, the forest is spinning past them. She falls and hits the ground, her body screaming at her to keep moving but it feels like someone has put a lead blanket across her body. 

“John,” Lucy croaks, trying to get his attention. He looks like he is miles away, a small pin prick in the distance. “Go, get Harris.”

John is stooping down behind herm helping Cooper up. “No, I am staying with you.” He is beside her now, his hands under her arms as he hoists her against the machine. 

Lucy - Cooper - John

They all stood now, heads as clear as possible the sound of their names coming from all directions. The echoing impossibly around them as if it was coming from hundreds of different voices, tones, and places. The place is so dark they might as well be in a cave, not able to see more than a few yards ahead of them. The wind picking up moves trees above, sending shivers across all of them, the only noise beside their panting breath. 

“That-what- what the fuck,” John states, eyes wide as he looks around. Lucy barely kept herself standing, her legs wobbly as the voice kept screaming their names

“Lucy!” Bert’s voice carries, this time sounding less like static ringing and more human. 

Lucy moves towards it, her feet moving without thought, Cooper immediately grabbing her arm. “Lucy, we can’t. We don’t know what that is.” 

“It’s Bert,” Lucy protests, trying to move away from him, Cooper’s grip only tightening further. He was right, she knew that, she knew it didn't sound right. Yet she wanted to go to them, she needed to go to them. 

“Lucy, think about this. We need to stop and think.” Cooper demands, somehow breaking through the fog. “We gotta stick together. Can either leave and get help, or we all go look for Bert.”

A screech breaks through the air, right in front of them as John’s body falls forward, something grabbing his ankle and starting to drag him backward. Lucy is stunned for a moment before she jumps forward, gun abandoned as she chases after John. His face rubs against the dirt hands desperately trying to grab onto anything and everything he can. A shot rings out in the air, Lucy instinctively duckling down. Her knees hit the ground and she rolls for a second before she is back up. John continues to scream as he grabs for purchase onto a tree.

Lucy reaches for him, “Don’t let go!” Her hands find his, his eyes wide as he screams.

Part Twelve

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*I I know I know cliff hangers, but what's a horror read without a cliff hanger?

*want to be on the tag list? add your name below

@toogaytofunctiondangit , @hiddlebatchedloki @whatsorceressisthis @dichromaniac @autumncryptids

@therealcozyaxoltol

[mllemaenad]

Hi! I was wondering - that Maxson thing you quoted in the Super Mutants post. I was wondering what's your take on that whole little 'history of Arthur Maxson' set of entries on that terminal, because you're generally really good at analysing these things like historical documents (I loved your work on that in Dragon Age). I guess I just want to know how much of it is likely to be bullshit, and which parts are bullshit around a kernel of truth.

Oh, sure, I can have a stab at that, if you like. I am ... going to put the cut in now, because even the document itself is quite long.

The Rise of Elder Maxson Opening Notes These entries are my attempt at writing a timeline documenting Elder Maxson's rise within the ranks of the Brotherhood. It's my sincerest wish that these entries will one day be compiled in a classic printed book format and distributed throughout the Wasteland. Long live Elder Maxson and long live the Brotherhood! Background Despite the defeat of the Enclave in the Capital Wasteland, the Brotherhood of Steel was still an organization divided. The Outcasts, a splinter faction that left the safety of the Citadel, still struggled to survive in the Capital Wasteland, separated from their parent organization. And while some of the Brotherhood members within the Citadel had no desire to reunite with their "disgraced" brothers, many saw the advantage in bolstering their own forces with warriors already trained and indoctrinated by the Brotherhood of Steel. Surely they could work out any… philosophical issues? Enter Maxson Enter Arthur Maxson, young squire to both Owyn and Sarah Lyons, and descendant of the very founder of the Brotherhood of Steel, Roger Maxson. When Elder Owyn Lyons died, care of young Arthur Maxson passed to Sarah Lyons, Owyn's daughter, who was then named Elder in his place. But when Sarah fell in battle shortly thereafter, things became complicated. The Brotherhood of Steel based in the Citadel found itself in need of leadership, and began appointing one ineffective Elder after another. Accomplishments As the years passed, and Arthur Maxson grew, so too did his accomplishments. At age 12, while on a training patrol, he killed two Raiders and saved the squad that was supposed to be escorting him. At age age 13, he single-handedly killed a Deathclaw (and gained the large facial scar he still has to this day). But it was his victory at age 15, over the Super Mutant "Shepherd" who was attempting to re-organize the Capital Wasteland's Super Mutants, that elevated him to hero-like status. When word of this feat reached the Elders back on the West Coast, they knew the time had come… Maxson was ready. Ready to lead and, more importantly, to reunite the fragmented Brotherhood of Steel forces on the East Coast. Our New Leader So it was that a year later, when he was only 16 years old, Arthur Maxson brokered a peace with the Outcasts, re-integrating them into the Brotherhood of Steel, and proving he was as effective a diplomat as he was a warrior. Now re-united, the full force of the Brotherhood of Steel appointed Arthur Maxson as Elder… the youngest in Brotherhood of Steel history. Aftermath Elder Maxson reigns supreme in the Capital Wasteland, and his authority and influence have been spreading across the Eastern Seaboard, thanks in no small part by the mobility afforded by the Prydwen. He has the full support of the Elders back on the West Coast, who have proudly reported that they've begun eradicating cults that have popped up, worshipping Maxson as though he's some kind of god. Maxson himself is almost offended by the idea of being referred to as a deity, as it goes against everything he believes in. Arthur Maxson is happy to be one thing… the perfect human specimen, an example of everything a human being can achieve. Assisted, even enhanced, by advanced technology, but still very much human. – The Rise of Elder Maxson, Proctor Quinlan's terminal, Fallout 4

First question: who is writing this? Proctor Quinlan is a Brotherhood of Steel scribe, meaning he's a professional researcher. That certainly sounds like a promising start. But Quinlan is also the contact for the quest Getting Technical, wherein the Sole Survivor collects technical documents for the Brotherhood, meaning he expresses various ... opinions about the kind of books that are worth preserving.

My responsibility aboard the Prydwen is to sort through the books discovered by our recovery teams and extract pertinent information from them. It's tedious work, since most of the volumes are a waste of paper… works of fiction, poetry… you understand. There are other scribes within the Brotherhood that consider fictional material essential, but I refuse to allow them aboard this vessel. If they don't expand the Brotherhood's technological knowledge, they're useless. Technical volumes, repair manuals, design philosophies, medical research… anything that enhances the Brotherhood's knowledge. That's why I consider everything else a waste of paper. – Proctor Quinlan Dialogue, Fallout 4

He seems to have a particular vendetta against fiction, but it's noteworthy that history and biography aren't on his list of acceptable volumes either. So he seems to be writing history without having a lot of respect for the craft.

His attitude, and this quest, seem to a reference to – and a bit of a dig at – Scribe Yearling and the Yearning for Learning quest she offered in Fallout 3. Yearling just asked for "pre-war books", so presumably she was collecting the various things Quinlan calls a "waste of paper".

Now, we also know Quinlan is a bit of a comic book fan:

Proctor Quinlan: Damn it scribe, I told you I didn't want the corners bent. The issues were to be in mint condition! Scribe Naceri: I'm sorry, Proctor, but this is the only limited edition annual we've recovered. Even before the bombs fell, this was the rarest issue… the one where Grognak dies and comes back to life. Proctor Quinlan: Yes, scribe… I've read the 2076 Underlane Price Guide from cover to cover, so I'm well aware of its past value. The fault for this travesty rests squarely on your shoulders because you chose to ignore the important lesson I taught you. Which is…? Scribe Naceri: Always bag and board. I'm sorry, sir. You're absolutely right, and I promise it will never… Um, sir? What's that red blinking light on your terminal? Proctor Quinlan: What? Oh, damn all… I left it in record mode. Just let me… – Quinlan to Be Deleted, Fallout 4

Ordinarily I wouldn't judge someone for a guilty pleasure, and I see no issue with keeping his comic book collection separate from the Brotherhood's official archives ... but this is a bit rich, after all the harping on the uselessness of fiction. So now we also know Quinlan is comfortable with hypocrisy.

And we have remarks like these:

Sole Survivor: He'll [Danse] be missed. Quinlan: Doubtful. I wouldn't "miss" a synth any sooner than I'd miss a transistor radio. I was merely sorry that you'd been duped. No matter. ... Quinlan: I'm not sure I like how your Ghoul is eying my quarters. I'd appreciate you removing him. – Proctor Quinlan Dialogue, Fallout 4

So ... we're not looking at a freethinker here, either. I don't mean that Quinlan is stupid, but he's clearly not a person who spends a lot of time interrogating the evidence around him and coming to independent conclusions. He happily spouts the Brotherhood party line – even when you're talking about the death of a long-time colleague. Danse stopped being a person to Quinlan the moment he was revealed as a synth.

Our author is not especially trustworthy, so we have good reason to be suspicious of this text.

Second question: Why is he writing this? This one is easy, because he tells us:

It's my sincerest wish that these entries will one day be compiled in a classic printed book format and distributed throughout the Wasteland.

This isn't a passion project by a devoted historian; nor is it intended to be an history internal to the Brotherhood, to remind them of who they are and what they've done. This is a propaganda piece, intended to inspire fear and awe in the wastelanders.

And that explains an awful lot about how this reads. I would not expect a Brotherhood source to offer up a lot of significant criticism of their current Elder – Brotherhood members who disagreed with Owyn Lyons tended to be pretty circumspect about it – but even a very positive biography might be expected to contain some discussion of a person's flaws and setbacks, even if only to say how well he overcame them.

Quinlan doesn't cite his sources, explain how he knows things or even go into any useful detail anywhere. It's important to know what sort of text we're dealing with: this isn't history, or even biography; it's panegyric. So you get crap like this:

Arthur Maxson is happy to be one thing… the perfect human specimen, an example of everything a human being can achieve.

I don't even know what you do with that, except maybe throw up a little bit. Come on, Quinlan, if you licked that boot any harder you'd sprain your tongue.

So: the purpose of this text is to present Arthur Maxson as an unstoppable hero to the people of the wasteland. It is light on details, high on praise, and incredibly dubious.

Third question: given all that, what can we do with this tripe?

There are some pros and cons here. The big con is that sources on the post-Fallout 3 Capital Wasteland are pretty thin. There's some dialogue from Deacon, MacCready and Madison Li that ... do not, largely, present a positive image of the Brotherhood's actions there. But they are not presenting a history or a chronicle, just remarking on things as they seem relevant.

The big pro is, well, Fallout 3 exists. Which means we have a significant amount of context for the stuff going on here, so it's not impossible to at least make some educated guesses.

Let's look at the politics first, starting with the reuinification of Lyons's Brotherhood with the Outcasts.

So it was that a year later, when he was only 16 years old, Arthur Maxson brokered a peace with the Outcasts, re-integrating them into the Brotherhood of Steel, and proving he was as effective a diplomat as he was a warrior.

The conflict between the Brotherhood and the Outcasts is a real thing. The Lone Wanderer can meet and deal with the Outcast faction in Fallout 3, and the Operation Anchorage DLC specifically deals with their technology hunt. So we know that part is not complete bullshit. It's only mostly bullshit. Quinlan puts "disgraced" in scare quotes, so if he's not a former Outcast himself he's certainly sympathetic to their position. Make no mistake: they were a disgrace in Fallout 3. Operation Anchorage actually ends with yet another schism in their ranks, because most of the Outcasts don't want to pay the Lone Wanderer for helping them deal with their simulation problem. They're quite awful people. But that's not how we're telling this story here, and that is ... interesting.

So what do we actually know?

There used to be two factions of Brotherhood in the Capital Wasteland, Lyons's Brotherhood and the Outcasts. Now there is one.

In Fallout 3 the East Coast Brotherhood is completely cut off from the West Coast Brotherhood. They haven't heard from them in years:

Rothchild: For years he'd try and persuade them to send reinforcements and supplies, all the while stringing them along, saying he was sticking to the mission. Finally, things came to a head. Lyons directly refused orders, and so the West Coast cut us off. No communications, no reinforcements. – Scribe Rothchild Dialogue, Fallout 3

At some point at least one of those groups re-established contact with the West Coast:

When word of this feat reached the Elders back on the West Coast, they knew the time had come… Maxson was ready. Ready to lead and, more importantly, to reunite the fragmented Brotherhood of Steel forces on the East Coast.

The West Coast Brotherhood backed Maxson's bid to become elder but more importantly (Quinlan's words, not mine) wanted the kids to stop fighting. Why?

Well, by this point the West Coast Brotherhood was entrenched in conflict with the NCR. And they were getting their arses kicked. When we meet them in Fallout: New Vegas they've retreated to their bunker after the rout at HELIOS One.

And while it's not anybody's main concern over in New Vegas, the Brotherhood is clearly invested enough in the state of the East Coast Brotherhood that even Veronica, the quasi-exile, has heard the gossip:

Veronica: We've had people go rogue, though, and start helping people. One chapter had a small civil war over it. We take our isolationism seriously. – Veronica Dialogue, Fallout: New Vegas

So if the West Coast got the East Coast on the phone and found out they had: a) a massive amount of scrap at their disposal, b) some revolutionary tech under their control, c) an airship, albeit not one capable of long distance travel, d) a sizeable number of soldiers on hand, and the good will to recruit more from the Capital Wasteland, if the West Coast Brotherhood can accept that ... and the only problem is that half the kids won't get on the damn bus ...

Well, at that point there's going to be a lot of pressure from the West Coast to bring the Outcasts back in, and get the hell back to California before the Brotherhood loses everything.

When they are reunited, the Brotherhood retrofits their airship to allow it to travel longer distances, and sets off. They are definitely in the Commonwealth to steal some stuff, fight the Institute and ruin everyone's day, sure, but this also reads as something of a trial run for a longer journey

Fr: Proctor Ingram IG-444PR To: Elder Maxson MX-001E As you know, in order to get the Prydwen rapidly to the Commonwealth, I had my engineering team pull her older power plant and replace it with an updated fusion plant we pulled from that aircraft carrier wreckage. I was able to squeeze almost one hundred percent efficiency from the new reactor, but the system is burning through our coolant supply faster than expected. As we've been docked over the airport, I've been able to deactivate the main engines to cool down the reactor, but we're still eating up coolant when we're in hover mode. We're eventually going to hit a point where we'll run out of coolant. If that happens, we'll need to put the Prydwen on the ground. I desperately need your help if you want to prevent that from happening. I'll be certain to provide you with the details at our next briefing. – Arthur Maxson's Terminal, Email, Fallout 4

There's clearly no way they're getting the Prydwen to California easily in her current state, and Ingram is busily trying to figure out how they can keep flying around in this thing without it exploding. But the key thing is that they get there: we see the airship reach California in the television series, so that's their final destination.

So, frankly, this is less about Arthur Maxson's extraordinary leadership skills and more about the fact that the Brotherhood was in crisis across America. There would have been tremendous pressure from the West Coast to reunite and head home, and there have always been people in Lyons's Brotherhood who would have preferred to bring the Outcasts back:

Rothchild: We live and die by our dedication to the Brotherhood. To go against orders… It's not something that's done. I appreciate that Lyons believes he is doing what is right, but he should never have disobeyed orders. And now look where it's gotten us. Forces dwindled, Super Mutants on one side, Enclave on the other. We can barely take care of ourselves. Lines of communication were severed years ago. The Western Elders have washed their hands of us. – Scribe Rothchild Dialogue, Fallout 3

That's Owyn Lyons's best friend. And there are indications that someone was whispering poison in Arthur's ear, even in childhood:

Arthur Maxson: Oh, well… You see, I am descended from the great Roger Maxson, founder of our order. I am the last of his line. They say my soul was forged from eternal steel, but I don't believe that. I'm really just a normal boy. I was sent to the Citadel many years ago, to be fostered by Elder Lyons. But that was before the Western Elders lost, um… faith… in the Elder. – Arthur Maxson Dialogue, Fallout 3

Who's been telling you this crap, Arthur? Who's been saying your "soul was forged from eternal steel"? Who's been whispering to you about the Western Brotherhood's lack of faith in Elder Lyons? It's unlikely to be the Outcasts as they wouldn't have had access. But if Outcast sympathisers had their hooks in him this early, it's not surprising where he ended up. I don't like Arthur Maxson the man ... but I have considerable pity for the child.

This pressure seems to have led to the Brotherhood capitulating almost entirely to the Outcasts' demands. We are back on the "hoarding tech for ourselves and telling everyone else to get fucked" train.

Doctor Li: I was tired of being stepped on and used by the Brotherhood. First there was the water purification project, designed to freely benefit the entire Capital Wasteland. Even though the Brotherhood allowed it to be activated, they wanted to control it. Then there were other, more classified projects. Always using my work as weapons of war. I simply had enough. – Madison Li Dialogue, Fallout 4

And the Outcasts very much get to claim victory. They get to say they were right. Owyn Lyons is at best forgotten, and at worst derided as an idiot.

Danse: A decade ago, the Brotherhood had almost gone completely astray. The Elder before Maxson sent us down a path that was leading nowhere… he was more concerned about charity than the preservation of technology. But when Maxson took over, he single-handedly re-prioritized the Brotherhood from the ground up and put us back on the path to glory. This ship and its crew are a testament to his leadership. – Paladin Danse Dialogue, Fallout 4

Danse should bloody know better. He was there. But indoctrination is a Brotherhood technique. You don't talk about what really happened.

Arthur Maxson is primarily useful to all of this because he's Roger Maxson's heir. He's an excellent figurehead to put atop this "reuinited Brotherhood", which is basically just bowing to pressure from the West Coast. And he's, you know, sixteen, so he knows fuck all. He didn't have to be good at anything. He just had to be willing to sell out the people who raised him for a fancy title and a ridiculous coat. Which he did. So here we are. Ad fucking Victoriam.

The biggest takeaway from that part is that Quinlan focuses almost entirely on Arthur's personal victories in battle. Those things have absolutely nothing to do with his leadership ability.

None of the notable leaders of the Brotherhood of Steel became so because they were considered stellar at single combat. Roger Maxson's virtue was having the foresight to keep his people safe in the early days of the apocalypse. He wasn't out there shooting mutants in the head – he was bringing the families of the soldiers into the safety of the base and organising the trek to the Lost Hills bunker. John Maxson, his grandson, aided the Vault Dweller in bringing down the Master's army – his scribes provided the research that proved the super mutants were sterile and he sent knights along as backup to Mariposa ... and Owyn Lyons worked with the Lone Wanderer to complete the water purifier and defeat the Enclave.

What Quinlan is doing is not talking about that. So: the reunification of the Brotherhood is clearly historical fact, but everything else smells quite off to me.

Moving on to the general state of the Capital Wasteland.

Elder Maxson reigns supreme in the Capital Wasteland, and his authority and influence have been spreading across the Eastern Seaboard, thanks in no small part by the mobility afforded by the Prydwen.

I think we can say with reasonable confidence that the Brotherhood would have had considerable influence and power after the fall of the Enclave in the Capital Wasteland. We know that they were, by wasteland standards, absurdly rich:

She was constructed at Adam's Air Force Base just outside of Washington D.C. There was a vast amount of scrap metal and salvageable components there after we defeated the Enclave. We spent the first two years alone gathering the parts. The rest was spent assembling. – Lancer Captain Kells Dialogue, Fallout 4

... and to be fair, wiping out the Enclave would likely have bought them some good will, at least in the short term. However, it seems like they burned through that fairly quickly. We have Madison Li, as an example: she became disgruntled because they were using her to build weapons. By the end of Fallout 3 the Enclave was in disarray and the source of the FEV generating all the super mutants had been located. So why the fuck were they escalating a conflict?

Well, dialogue from MacCready suggests that they had clamped down pretty hard and, as they leaned more and more into the Outcasts' way of doing things, became a menace to the population:

MacCready: I really hope you know what you're doing. The Brotherhood guys… they aren't playing cards with a full deck. Get in the way of their technological crusade, and they'll knock you down without even blinking. – Robert MacCready Dialogue, Fallout 4

MacCready was a child during the events of Fallout 3 – actually, he's slightly older than Arthur Maxson – and would have done his growing up in the aftermath of Broken Steel. And (aside from occasional admiration for their firepower) he has nothing good to say about them.

MacCready: When I was a kid, I heard stories about Liberty Prime Junior stomping around the Captial Wasteland. By helping the Brotherhood bring it back, you're unleashing a mechanical monster into the Commonwealth. – Robert MacCready Dialogue, Fallout 4

While I agree with a lot of what Deacon says, as a member of the Railroad you might reasonably say he's a biased source; likewise, while I take Madison's opinions seriously you can certainly argue a personal grievance might make her somewhat unfair. MacCready has no cause: he'd like to make a few caps and find a cure for his son. And his general opinion of the Brotherhood of Steel, having grown up under their power is: oh fuck no.

Aside from tech, we see from Teagan's behaviour in Fallout 4 that the Brotherhood are absolutely not above stealing from local settlements to feed their troops:

Proctor Teagan: Those farmers give you any trouble, I trust you know what to do. – Proctor Teagan Dialogue, Fallout 4

It's ugly, but it makes sense: the Brotherhood is an army without a nation. They don't grow crops, herd brahmin or even build factories to produce goods for trade. They're resistant to mercenary work and helping people is a contentious issue, with the Outcasts back in charge. We know they purchase from traders, sometimes ... but traders are unlikely to have the kid of bulk supplies an army of this size would need. That's not a problem that just appears out of nowhere in Fallout 4: it would be ongoing.

With Deacon in mind, I keep thinking of that line:

Deacon: I never really much cared for the Minutemen. The idea sounds great. But you give small men big power and sometimes you'll pay for it. – Deacon Dialogue, Fallout 4

Of course, the Brotherhood of Steel have been a thing out west for ages, but you couldn't expect a Commonwealth boy to know a lot about the politics in California. And while undeniably closer the business of Taggerdy's Thunder and the Scorched Plague would be ancient history by the time of Fallout 4. But Deacon would know that a band of soldiers came east. He'd know that they protected people for a while – imperfectly, sure, but you can give some credit for good intentions. And he'd know that they won a tremendous battle, which gave them big power, and then ...

Deacon: The Brotherhood… well, I met them on an op in Capital Wasteland a few years back. But now with Elder Maxson… Let's just say, not a fan. – Deacon Dialogue, Fallout 4

We also know that the Prydwen is the main source of their power: when any of the other factions come into conflict with the Brotherhood, getting rid of that thing immediately becomes a priority. So at least for the last five years, the Brotherhood has been able to expand their influence along the east coast using their monstrosity of an airship.

I'm inclined to think this part is mostly true, except that Quinlan paints Brotherhood control of the Capital Wasteland as a good thing, whereas the non-Brotherhood characters indicate that it's actually fucking awful to live under their rule. This does not surprise me. I cannot think of an alliance they haven't burned at some point.

The bright spot here is that it does look as though they were recalled. So they have brought most, if not all, of their troops (and certainly the Prydwen) first to the Commonwealth and then to California. A reduced Brotherhood in the Capital Wasteland would not be invincible, and the locals might be able to kick them out completely. We'll see.

The Capital Wasteland, super mutants:

But it was his victory at age 15, over the Super Mutant "Shepherd" who was attempting to re-organize the Capital Wasteland's Super Mutants, that elevated him to hero-like status.

Honestly, this bit makes me suspicious without there being anything there I can prove one way or another.

The first thing that bugs me is that Quinlan doesn't say anything about the circumstances in which Arthur killed Shepherd. He talks about him defending his escort from raiders and he talks about him being badly injured in his battle with the deathclaw ... but he says nothing at all about this fight with a super mutant. If, for example, he could say that Shepherd and his mutant army were assailing Rivet City and Arthur slew their leader before he could take the bridge ... well, he'd say that. Because that would be cool. But he doesn't say anything. Just that Arthur Maxson was somehow "victorious" over him.

So ... what happened there? And, given that it was a super mutant, would the Brotherhood distinguish between an actual battle and, say, a murder?

The second thing that bugs me is that "Shepherd" is an odd name for a warlord. It could be, of course, but this isn't actual history. It's fiction, told through dialogue and made up historical records. And in that scenario if something sounds weird it probably is. Plenty of super mutants just have normal names – Marcus, Lily, Gail – which may just be the names they have always had (certainly, in Lily's case). Other super mutants take names to make themselves sound tough – Fist, Hammer, Strong. Fawkes borrowed his name from Guy Fawkes, because he admired the man's conviction. So "Shepherd", with the religious connotations that would be attached to the primarily Christian America ... sounds like a damn odd name for a warlord to choose.

And lastly, the word Quinlan uses for Shepherd's activities is organise. Not rally or arm. He does not say he is building an army. It is an oddly neutral word that might mean anything. And the thing is: the super mutants of the Capital Wasteland were not organised. Not at all. They had some camps scattered about, but they were pretty rudimentary affairs. Organise could mean lead to violence ... but you could also say Marcus organised the super mutants at Broken Hills and Jacobstown, and in that case it meant built peaceful settlements.

We know at least two super mutants, Fawkes and Leo, objected to the violence against humans. Either might be a candidate for "Shepherd", although Fawkes would obviously be the more forceful leader. And if there were two, it does not seem unreasonable to me that there might have been others – people who were driven away when the conflict with the Brotherhood was at its height, but who might have returned later.

So this might have been a righteous victory. It might also have been the slaughter of someone trying to help. Someone trying to lead the super mutants away from violence. I don't believe the Brotherhood would distinguish.

Danse: Anyway, about a year after we were posted to the Prydwen, Cutler vanished on a scouting op. It took some convincing, but I was able to persuade my CO to let me assemble a squad and search for him. It took almost three weeks, but we tracked his team down to a Super Mutant hive. Those wretched abominations had slaughtered everyone but Cutler. He should have been so lucky. The mutant bastards used their FEV to change him into one of their own kind. He wasn't Cutler anymore. I had to… it was my duty to… put him down. – Paladin Danse Dialogue, Fallout 4

While I have no doubt that Danse genuinely believed he did his duty there ... I have often wondered how necessary Cutler's death was. After all, Danse must have recognised him, and super mutants don't typically look like their human selves. It might just have been a dog tag, but with dead Brotherhood soldiers and the more violent kind of super mutants involved you'd expect body parts and dog tags all over the place – and Danse is certain this super mutant was Cutler. So I wonder.

This is also why I wonder about Arthur Maxson's "victory" over Shepherd. Because the Brotherhood believe all mutants are abominations, you can't tell from their sources what any specific one they slaughtered was doing. And the lack of details make me suspicious.

But these are only suspicions. They're not proof.

Right, so, last and probably least because honestly who cares – the prowess of Arthur Maxson.

As the years passed, and Arthur Maxson grew, so too did his accomplishments. At age 12, while on a training patrol, he killed two Raiders and saved the squad that was supposed to be escorting him. At age age 13, he single-handedly killed a Deathclaw (and gained the large facial scar he still has to this day). But it was his victory at age 15, over the Super Mutant "Shepherd" who was attempting to re-organize the Capital Wasteland's Super Mutants, that elevated him to hero-like status. ... He has the full support of the Elders back on the West Coast, who have proudly reported that they've begun eradicating cults that have popped up, worshipping Maxson as though he's some kind of god. Maxson himself is almost offended by the idea of being referred to as a deity, as it goes against everything he believes in.

To be completely fair to our Arthur, we have reason to believe he was a decent shot. Owyn Lyons certainly thought so:

Squire Maxson's training is proceeding well, and the boy certainly has an aptitude for small arms. But I often worry about his emotional state. He is child surrounded by killers, being groomed to become a killer himself. Maybe I've become too cynical, too soft in my old age, but I wish I could give the boy a more normal childhood. Ironic, considering his upbringing is so much like my own. Maybe that's what scares me. – Owyn Lyons's Terminal, Squire Maxson Progress Report, Fallout 3

And we know that Sarah Lyons took him out with her, at least once:

Lone Wanderer:They don't actually… make you fight. Do they? Arthur Maxson: No. But I could! I know I'm ready! I mean, it would be scary, but… It's not fair that I have to sit inside while the knights go on patrol! I did go out one time, you know! Sarah… Um… Sentinel Lyons took me out. Just to show me. I killed a Super Mutant, too! I swear! I, um… I also sort of shot Sarah. But just a little! It was just a flesh wound… – Arthur Maxson Dialogue, Fallout 3

I'm inclined to believe he at least helped to kill a super mutant. He was ten years old, he was very excited about it, and while he was embarrassed about it he did admit to accidentally shooting Sarah, so he had not yet developed too much of an ego to admit his faults. Poor kid should never have been out there, but he was, and the results seem mixed: he might well have hit his target, but he also hit his tutor.

It seems reasonable enough that his hand would have got steadier as he got older, and they were dragging him into the field. But I think it's also fair to note that this kid would have been very well protected. No one wants to be the knight that let the heir of Roger Maxson get eaten by a feral ghoul, you know? So I suspect some exaggeration in all this.

If two raiders were a significant threat to a squad of Brotherhood knights, that was a spectacularly shit squad. While I don't like the Brotherhood, I'm pretty sure they can outshoot the average Capital Wasteland raider. With the exception of the slavers, those people were not well armed or well organised. We're not looking at the Great Khans, here. So I'm more than willing to believe young Arthur Maxson shot a couple of raiders. But I question whether that constituted "saving" his protectors.

Likewise, if he made the killing blow on a deathclaw – how many knights stood between him and it? How many distracted it and got torn to bits to allow him to do that? No one is standing by and letting the thirteen year old – and I say this again – heir of Roger Maxson just get his face torn off by a deathclaw.

But the thing is? I'm damn sure Arthur believes his own hype. The West Coast Brotherhood may be slapping down cultists amongst their number, but I don't believe for a second that Arthur is offended by it. Why? Because he named his damn ship the Prydwen. What's the Prydwen? It's King Arthur's ship, with whom our young Elder Maxson happens to share a name. And who is King Arthur? He's the once and future king, that's who. He will come again in Britain's greatest hour of need.

What's the Prydwen doing? It's headed to California. No one in the Capital Wasteland or Commonwealth is going to care if you name your ship after that of a legendary British king – but back in California where there are (or at least were :( ) libraries and universities – and where the Brotherhood idolises the name of Maxson ... yeah, I think they'll figure out the reference. Arthur Maxson is selling himself as Roger Maxson come again, and in the Brotherhood's hour of need.

And while I don't know exactly what the Brotherhood in the TV series were doing ...

Where did this come from? I've never seen the do that.

... that's a fun new ritual I've never seen them do before. Might look a little bit like one of those cults got off the ground. If little baby Elder Maxson were looking to become High Elder Maxson ... well, that might be one way to do it.

So, to summarise:

Proctor Quinlan is not a great source. He's very pro-Brotherhood, disgustingly biased toward Arthur Maxson and shows little interest in the study of historical texts. Nevertheless, he is a trained researcher and he should have access to primary sources on most of what he's saying, so I suppose he could be a worse source.

The Rise of Elder Maxson is explicitly a piece of propaganda, intended to be distributed across the wasteland. It should not be read as an accurate and objective account of anything. I have been using the Fandom wiki to copy the terminal entries and, while I thoroughly appreciate their thoroughness on that point I'm now looking at the actual article on Arthur Maxson, and I'm a tad bemused that it seems to use this as a source uncritically.

We can confirm a number of high level things from other sources: the Outcasts and Lyons's Brotherhood seem to have reunited, and the Outcasts' ideology is apparently at the forefront of the organisation these days. The Brotherhood seems to have been throwing their weight around in the Capital Wasteland. Arthur did know how to use a gun as a child (although maybe not that well).

The idea that any of this is positive or good is purely a reflection of Quinlan's attitudes and the attitudes of the Brotherhood of Steel in general. When other characters who are either from, or have visited, the Capital Wasteland they are significantly less positive.

Arthur Maxson seems to have used the Outcasts to gain power, and is leaning hard into the glory of his heritage in order to hold onto that power and gain more. Quinlan's text mostly indicates that he has not done a lot as a leader, with his primary achievements being in the realm of physical combat.

So ... a lot of bullshit, but not total bullshit.

[vivaciousoceans]

Your last post made me think.

While i understand why it looks like Rafael took away her choices, I think Rafael just gave her the option she was going to refuse to take at a fault.

Yes, she didn't ask him to, nor did she want to, but he did it anyways because he understood, from the moment she asked him to not take the case, that Olivia did not consider once what could have happend to her in a trial where her malpractice would have been taken into question. It did not even cross her mind, nor does she want it to, and, in my opinion, it's because she believed St@bler was going to magically help her.

Now, I am not going to say definitely he would have thrown her under the bus, because I don't think that, but Rafael saw the risks Olivia was going to face and decided he loved her, respected her too much to allow it to happen.

I think love is sometimes not doing exactly everything the other person wants, and facing the risk of losing them because of it, but, in the end, our actions towards them were informed by our love and respect for them.

I think he knew that Olivia's reaction was not going to be positive, but he did it anyways. Because he loved her.

To be my annoying self I am going to leave this quote:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I agree that she was never going to consider fallout, and I definitely think Rafael knew that. I also still think that was her choice, her sacrifice to make, even if it would’ve destroyed her. But her choice and Rafael’s protection of her aren’t mutually exclusive. She was willing to risk her livelihood for Elliot, and Rafael was willing to risk their relationship for her. That’s where Rafael’s “that’s what you do when you love someone unconditionally” statement comes in. The only one not willing to risk anything, in this scenario, is Elliot.

I do think Olivia loves Elliot unconditionally, and I think she loves Rafael unconditionally. I just happen to think only one of those men loves Olivia unconditionally and the other loves her obsessively, possessively. For me it was never about who Olivia loves unconditionally, it was always about who loves her unconditionally, and for me, that is Rafael. The love Olivia has for Elliot is just too all-consuming, it’s too self-sacrificing, it’s not healthy for her or Noah.

I do love a good quote! I think that one fits our favorite cuban-catholic lawyer really well.

[selfish-solace]

i have to say it’s kind of funny seeing people reblog my poorly made fo4 essay after the show came back. welcome back haters. If anyone’s curious about my thoughts on the tv show, it’s not my thing. i don’t really like it. i think the props department and the set people did a fantastic job but i think all the problems ive pointed out about fo4 carry into it heavily. and everything about like. everything. I don’t like the brotherhood as a milita, and it’s. Weird. To see west coast brotherhood portrayed as that.

to be clear, i have not finished the show nor do i plan on finishing it. i got about halfway through and im not going to hold the parts I haven’t seen against it. for the purposes of this rant, pretend that all you’ve seen is 4 episodes. act like this is still cable. and don’t get fucking weird about the fact I decided I wasn’t into it and dropped it. i don’t care if you personally think these issues are fixed by the end of the show.

ive always been an insane fallout conspiracy theorist and i was expecting to at least get super mad about the lore but im just. kind of apathetic. i think personally, that it’s fucking baffling that they decided to make their one main black character . like that. Maximus is like, constantly failing or being incredibly cruel to another person. like, when he put a razor into his only friends shoe for no reason other then social clout. i don’t know if they considered the optics of making the entirety of the brotherhood horrifically abuse the only black character because i genuinely believed for like the first three episodes that there was going to be some kind of “this brotherhood is racist” reveal, but no. I don’t think they thought about that. i don’t think they thought about much, to be honest. it feels like every new bit of information we get has to be delivered to us in the most unsubtle of ways. And that makes it boring to me. i don’t like how there’s essentially nobody normal in the wasteland except Lucy, because like. that’s really never been the case.

yeah, sure, there’s a bit of cruelty in everyone in fallout. that’s how this world works. But this show beats you over the head with the conclusion that everyone must be not trusted and everyone is to be feared and the wasteland really has fallen into complete anarchy. i think the complete destruction of shady sands and the ncr is a direct concequence of that choice. bethesda fallouts are kind of stuck in the old world apocalypse, and i just. think that’s kind of boring. the whole fantasy of fallout is seeing how things can change, and it feels like sometimes Bethesda takes “war never changes” too literally. like yeah. but that’s not what the quote means. it’s about how conflict is always the same, not how the world around it stays the same always. i also just think the fact there’s really nothing new or original to explore here is .. boring.

Quite frankly, im tired of the brotherhood. Im tired of the ncr. Im tired of the “find your family” plot. Im tired of the enclave. there’s nothing to mix up the formula. and im sorry, but i think the characters are boring too. i think that Walton goggins ghoul is not very interesting. I think Lucy’s arc is just. kind of predictable. because she’s literally just doing what people tell her with a kindness twist. fallouts always had these cool ass side characters, like, every dlc character from new Vegas. obviously it’s hard to translate that into a show, but who’s favorite is going to be the weird old lady? who’s honestly going to be interested in the horny farmers plight? does anyone care about that guy maximus was friends with? every character just falls flat for me. and that’s why i dropped it. because the new things it brings are just.. boring. and the things they keep the same are boring too. Genuinely, i had a better time watching the resident evil netflix show. at least that was interesting. I don’t care if you like it. I don’t think you’re a bad person for liking it. I get why. I just didn’t. be respectful in the notes please.

[chaoscheebs]

It's Midnight, Cinderella, chapter 2

(Chapter 1) - (Chapter 2) - (Chapter 3) - (Chapter 4) - (Chapter 5) - (Fic Tag)

------------------

How did such a good night go so wrong?

Sure, it had been a little awkward at first; Otogi had promptly ditched him to flirt with (admittedly pretty hot) girls, leaving him stranded in a sea of stuffy people in suits he didn’t have the first clue how to approach on his own. But then Seto Kaiba—and boy, was it painfully obvious it was Seto Kaiba, even with the mask—approached him first! Without prompting! Because Kaiba’s apparently into the Ouji look? Regardless of why, it had been… nice. Very nice, to just leave all the drama and troubles and bad blood at the door and talk to him (flirt with him oh god why did he do that) like a normal person. Then it had led to card games in a private room and… Honestly, why should he have been surprised that it was like foreplay to Kaiba?

Leave the masks on, they silently agreed, let’s put aside real life for a while and enjoy the moment.

He could have revealed who he was at any time, but he didn’t. His thoughts were only how good it felt to be in Kaiba’s arms, how good it felt to have Kaiba’s attention on him and solely him for once in his life, how good it would feel to have those long, elegant legs wrapped around him, and thought absolutely nothing about the potential fallout afterward.

In short, Yugi Muto got carried away, thought with his dick, and that’s why he fled home as soon as Kaiba was asleep to go dye his hair back to normal at four in the morning, quietly thanking whatever deities existed that he hadn’t styled his hair like normal and left it in its natural state. No amount of trying out a different hair color would have hid that hairstyle, that’s for sure. Jounouchi’s gonna be upset that the perfect bleaching he helped Yugi with was already being covered up, but better covered up than the alternative.

Shit. The alternative. What was he going to do now, Yugi asked himself, slumping on the couch while he waited for the 20 minutes for the dye to set to be up. What if Kaiba figures out it was him? How is he going to react? Is he going to get fired? Or worse, barred from being involved with the major players in the gaming industry? Is he going to have to focus on the indie scene, or worse, have to take over the game store?! Is it too late to follow Anzu to New York and start over there?

“Yugi? What are you doing up at this hour?”

Yugi snapped out of his anxiety spiral-induced reverie at the sound of his grandpa’s voice behind him. “Wh-what are you doing up at this hour?!”

“I asked you first, m’boy,” Grandpa asked. He gingerly poked at Yugi’s dye-saturated hair, realized what he just touched, then wiped his dye-stained finger off on the towel around Yugi’s neck. “Didn’t you just change this the other day?”

“Oh, I, uh…” Yugi wracked his brain for a quick but plausible answer and mercifully found one. “I forgot I had a piercing appointment tomorrow and want to get this done now so I won’t forget about it being there and get dye in an open wound!”

Grandpa frowned, clearly still suspicious but unable to think of a good rebuttal at this hour. “More piercings? You’re certain your workplace is all right with that?”

Yugi smirked. “I have a company-wide e-mail from Seto Kaiba himself from the last time someone complained about someone getting piercings, telling all management that he, quote, ‘doesn’t care how much metal someone has in their face if it’s not impacting their ability to work, stop wasting his and everyone else’s time with this.’ Saved it to my computer and printed it out too~”

Grandpa laughed and patted Yugi’s shoulder. “Ho, ho! That’s my boy!” He paused for a moment, then let out a bit of a sigh. “Anyway, don’t forget to get some rest when you’re done with this, all right? Staying up all night isn’t good for you.”

“I will, Grandpa,” Yugi lied. Like hell he was getting any sleep when he was in panic mode like this. Thankfully, his grandfather took him at his word, but not without one more worried glance before leaving.

Once Grandpa was out of sight, Yugi started to flop down on one side on the couch, but suddenly remembered the hair dye and caught himself before the wet hair touched anything. His life was difficult enough at the moment; he doesn’t need Mom complaining about dye stains on the furniture on top of it. Again. He settled instead for slouching forward, staring at the floor, until it occurred to him to pull out his phone from his pocket and stare at that instead.

He really should talk to someone about this, but who? Anzu would commiserate with him, but it would be early afternoon for her off in New York; she’d probably be at a rehearsal or something. There’s also Jounouchi, but hearing him talk shit about Kaiba was not what Yugi needed right now. Honda, maybe? Yugi shook his head; they’re close enough, but not close enough to wake him up over this disaster. Bakura’s right out; he’s the god-king of wandering into trouble and making it everyone else’s problem himself. There’s always Hanasaki, he supposed, but he was prepping for midterms or something and did not need this added to his load either…

Finally, he asked himself, Otogi, maybe? It’s his damn fault he was even at the damn party anyway. But no, Yugi decided, remembering the circle of women surrounding the man before he went off with Kaiba. There’s no way Otogi was alone and he wasn’t interrupting that. At best, he’d get an invitation to join, and any other day that’d be tempting, but again, this was not what Yugi needed right now.

Yugi heaved a sigh and flopped backwards, leaning heavily against the back of the couch, head reclined back as far as it would comfortably go. He thought for a split second about what to do, but then he remembered. The hair dye.

FUCK.

He leapt to his feet and spun around to see a great big splotch of purplish pink, then bolted to the bathroom to get a wet washcloth to hopefully clean it up before it set. Dye job first, he told himself, then worry about what to do next. It’s not like he didn’t have all day to figure something out, after all.

------------------

Meanwhile, back at the hotel room, Seto Kaiba was sitting on the edge of the bed, pondering his next move.

He had been sleeping more peacefully than he had in years, but when he turned over in his sleep, his arm fell onto… nothing. The other man’s lithe form was no longer next to him, nor any trace of his warmth left in his place. A quick check of the room and adjoining bathroom proved he was no longer there, period, and a brief check of his belongings showed nothing was missing, save for his mask—he presumed the man grabbed the wrong one in his haste—and, infuriatingly enough, the business card the man had given him.

At least corporate espionage seemed to be off the table as a motive for the man’s quick retreat, Seto thought; with everything that’s happened in his life, a honeypot operation targeting him wasn’t out of the question. Not that he thought anyone would be bold enough to try, with how utterly apathetic he was about… well, being with anyone that way, to be frank.

Which, honestly, was what made this hurt, and what he was blaming for the urge to fight his cynical first impulse to let this matter drop and chalk it up to a passing whim and people being shitty yet again.

He growled quietly, running a hand through his hair. What was wrong with him; why couldn’t he just let this go as an obvious mistake, a momentary lapse of judgment? The man clearly wasn’t taking this as seriously as he was, if the bastard could just run away like this. Still, something nagged at him, something he couldn’t quite put a finger on, but he was very clearly missing something in all of this and it was absolutely infuriating.

He picked up his pants from the floor, fished out his phone, and opened a notes app. He needed a guest list, he typed into it, and started typing out a description of what the man looked like and what he could remember the man saying to him. Also, a description of the man his target was the plus one for, not that he got a terribly long or clear look at him. Still, combined with the guest list, what he did notice could be illuminating. If he could find the “date” that ditched the target, maybe he could get the target’s damned name.

For better or worse, Seto Kaiba was a man who, when his personal curiosity took over, could not be stopped until it was satisfied, and this was going to be no exception to that.

[veryflirtytransportalate]

Wearing a bunny outfit to a thunderdome and dancing in front of the battle cage is kind of like bringing cookies to a divorce proceeding and icing them on the lawyer's desk. Kind of.

Thoughts:

Credit once again to the bunny outfit mod, always a fun time busting that one out. Major props to one of my new favorite mods, the barrel armor mod. Absolutely hilarious, the legs clip through it really bad, but that's almost even funnier. I appreciate the tiny :-) drawn on the barrel too, the perfect detail.

I've actually been playing this character, not just taking pictures of her, and it's been neat. In contrast to what I usually do, I set the difficulty to very easy, and done my best to throw away every preconceived notion that I had of how to play Fallout 4. I never really do raider runs of these games, or evil runs of these games, because I feel like it's spoils 99% of the fun. If you're going to be this kind of capricious evil monster, why would you listen to anybody in a conversation? Why would you take a quest? It just doesn't make any sense. So blue it's very chaotic, sometimes I click through dialogue because I genuinely think this violent sadist would find it more interesting in this particular moment to listen to what stupid problem they have. I did that entire quest where you go to the factory that's canning meat, that one sucked. You walk in, they're arguing about the meat making people sick, he keeps complaining about mole rats, you just know for a fact he's putting people into the stuff. And I actually went and explored the entire place before I found the secret underground area, so I read his diary that he had upstairs and even looted the chest that he's next to where he's supposed to get the reward for clearing the dungeon. I actually really like that, the idea that if you explore you find a whole bunch of stuff that would normally be gated off at the end of the dungeon, but not like this. Not one it feels completely half-assed and the dungeon rewards and Fallout 4 are always so meaningless anyway, although I did get a never-ending 10 millimeter pistol which immediately made me reconsider my fist only playthrough, and then when I found that great shotgun down there I was like, oh yeah, this is no longer a fist only playthrough, these are two of my favorites, this is a sign.

One of the things I've been having the most fun with is the fact that blues bird outfit has a special ability very few hit the jump key again under the right circumstances you propel yourself into the air, but it's really bringing me back to that guy in Morrowind who would fall out of the sky and crush his entire body on the ground, and then you'd get his scrolls for this spell that he invented that caused that problem? I keep jumping up and being like I'm so cool this is just like playing prototype when I was 15 and running and jumping around the city and then my ankles get so much as a hair away from the concrete and suddenly my entire character's body is a contorted bastardized mess that is rebounding off the top of the concrete structure and flopping to the dilapidated Boston city streets below. I think it's going to be really satisfying when I get good with the, and I'm putting massive air quotes on this one even though I could put literal quotes but I'm using voice to text and I don't want to go into that much detail, flying. Getting into a firefight and flying up to the top of a building just to jump down on top of them with a really strong melee focused build? That just sounds awesome! God I hope it's awesome.

[bec-son]

Ive recently learned that they did a playtest for Marathon the game based off of the same series from the 90s.

and i gotta say, im so over bungie trying to do sleek stuff. ever since destiny 1 i really disliked what they did with it and how they turned all the dlcs into live service vaulting as well as just making every dlc expensive as hell.

my BIGGEST gripes?

theyre turning a campaign focused game with a side of multiplayer into an extraction shooter

and they completely turned the art style into some basic cyber corpo vibe.

Game genre matters - extraction shooters are limited severally by their game genre, you can only have so much going on in it. Maps are constrained by locations, gameplay and balance is utterly important because 1. you dont want snipers across the map 2. you gotta have a game flow around it and you have to direct it to an end point. 3. story CANNOT take place in it at all, if you do youll end up having players be in positions they cannot be in or interrupt the entire flow of the game for story.

Originally Marathon was a campaign game with multiplayer thrown in on the side, which has far more freedom in how it can approach things because it can control flow, story, and atmosphere way more easier.

they turned a full meal into a scavenger hunt that you must grind through to get a fry which shouldve come with your burger but they said you gotta work for it. Where a campaign means you can go through it getting the meal at a steady pace then after it you can get dessert on the side (multiplayer).

Art style from older years strike more than modernization -

during the development of Marathon 2024 they decided to redo the art style, but completely lost the idea the original was going for.

these are from the Marathon 2024 trailers

the last image is of the S'pht which are aliens from the original series, which is shrouded in darkness, which sucks because its legitimately the only thing you can fully recognize from the first 3 games.

theyve changed the art style so much this is supposed to be a cyborg but lacks the brutal designs of the original

its too sleek, its too modern

now here is art by Craig Mullins (original site which the art is from https://marathon.bungie.org/story/CM_history.html and https://marathon.bungie.org/story/CM_blake.html)

Each of these images have so much style, so much care, and so much design to it the announcement trailer makes it look so unappealing, its too formulaic with the colors being just entirely one uniform color, how the robotic people just look like theyre japanese synths/just synths from fallout 4.

entirely missing the point of it all, *honestly looks way too similar to Brink*

a quote from a review of the first marathon game by Mandaloregaming (please watch these, these show how much the games look amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9rMu1XYB98 )

"its like you have all these enemy types with bright colors variations and they look cartoony, but in a stylistic way thats very appealing to the eyes"

Now you may be wondering why I'm even talking about this at all, well recently Bungie laid off a lot of staff, and I think its important that we talk about the amount of work that goes into these games.

reinventing the wheel shouldnt be your go to answer when coming back to a series, all the work the devs who worked on Marathon 1 to Infinity shouldn't be just a note in a devs log.

*it should never be taylor swifts cover of september by earth wind and fire* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnDnphYTb0Q

[thornfield13713]

So, why did your Fallout 4 character join the factions she has?

Okay. At this moment, I am only a member of the Minutemen and Railroad. I may end up joining the Brotherhood to get Danse's personal quest, because that sounds like a fun one, but I haven't yet, and I'm still figuring out what the motives are for that one.

But for the factions Georgia is a part of now...

The Minutemen were...she joined for a few reasons. One of them being that being part of a group was safer than being alone. But there's more to it than that. Yes, Georgia wants to get her kid back. But once she has him back, she needs somewhere to take him. She needs a place where she can raise her child in relative safety. And- the thing is, when I think about safety, what I think about is game theory, and the idea which has informed so much of my political praxis and thinking, which is this: nobody is safe, unless everybody is safe. Safety is always and only ever a matter of degree, but the safer everybody is, the safer any individual person is. Sure, she could try and live a quiet life with Shaun in Sanctuary, or in some other settlement since Sanctuary is too raw. But then there are all the ordinary threats of the Wasteland - there's raiders, ferals, Super Mutants, other people just being dicks, there's famines and crop blights and contaminated water. She can't protect him from these things if she keeps thinking small. Which means that, in order for her son to have any kind of life with her, she needs to make sure the world is as safe as it can be, and that means not just safe for her and hers. There's a Pratchett quote that works for this too. It comes from Monstrous Regiment, an underrated favourite of mine, and it comes at the very end of the book:

'The Duchess was smaller than she’d thought. But if you had to protect it by standing in the doorway with a sword, you were too late. Caring for small things had to start with caring for big things, and maybe the world wasn’t big enough.'

The Minutemen seem like her best shot at that, even if there's only two of them. The best path to safety is a path that allows safety for everyone, because little as anyone likes to admit it, we are all a part of 'everyone', and bad luck can happen to anyone.

The Railroad- she seeks out the Railroad because they're against the Institute, and she figures they'll help her go after Kellogg. I'm having her delay that attack because she's not sure she can win - she's one lawyer with a gun she's not all that great with, going up against a seasoned mercenary. She needs help, and a lot of it, if she's going to face down a threat like that, so she spends most of act one trying to put together a crew that can help her do what she needs to. She doesn't exactly find that at the Railroad, but she finds allies, nonetheless. And also- the best friend she's made in this world is a synth, and she picked up very early on that the things people were saying about synths were often, word-for-word, the same shit people used to say about the Chinese back in her day. And she was sceptical enough about that even before her secretary got dragged off to an internment camp and there was nothing Georgia could do to get her out. Fighting for civil rights has been most of Georgia's life's work, and joining the Railroad felt like getting something back that had been carved out of her the day that her firm was forced to close its doors.

[seeyouafter]

SYA Extended Notes Ch. 43

Notes for "See You After" Chapter 43: Recent News Articles: July 11-31

Wow, it's been a hot minute since I've done an actual "extended notes" post as opposed to just an update announcement. The main reason is that life has been busy but also, I want the story to speak for itself when it comes to Shouto's relationships with Katsuki and with his family. I might post some thoughts after Part II ends but I did want to add some commentary on the news articles in this chapter.

Honestly, writing/editing these articles gave me flashbacks to 2020 in regards to the uncertainty of school closures, as well as the amplified urgency of various social issues.

I have a lot of seemingly random articles in my draft document that will be inserted in future chapters, but I chose to include these here because they fit with the theme of bridging the gap between regular citizens and hero society. (reminder: the title of Part II is "Rebuilding the bridges that were burned".)

Canon references and my commentary relating to the individual articles (a.k.a. me overanalyzing the societal problems of a fictional world) below the cut:

Article 1: Citizens petition for access to specialized quirk training

BNHA Ch. 1 - Midoriya Izuku: Origin

Beyond the narrative function of making the profession of "hero" more important, the laws preventing ordinary citizens from using their quirks don't make a lot of sense. Instead of being encouraged find ways to use their unique quirks to benefit society, people are required by law to suppress their quirks unless they become heroes.

Kids are likewise prohibited from using their quirks in schools, and while there are later references to the quirk counseling system, there was never anything that indicated that kids were taught how to use their quirk safely and effectively. If citizens are indeed inspired to step up and take action instead of leaving everything to the heroes, it would make sense that they would also fight for the right to be allowed to use their quirks.

Article 2: Opinion: Heteromorph discrimination is everyone's problem

BNHA Ch. 371 - Together with Shouji & 372 - Naked

The heteromorph plotline was a bit rushed in the manga, but I thought it was extremely important because of the obvious references to racial prejudices that exist in the real world.

Also, the "Heroes who look like villains" ranking is sometimes seen as funny because Endeavor is number one on that list, but I think the list itself is super problematic. Gang Orca is confirmed as Number 3, presumably just because of his looks, so I'd imagine that many of the others on that list are heroes with heteromorph quirks.

Article 3 - Medical: Quirk Awakenings Explained

BNHA: Ch. 394 - Urarako Ochako vs. Toga Himiko

Yeah, I am not even going to attempt to explain the science of quirk awakenings. 😂 However, I included this article here to show that it's something people are talking about. It's also a hint that people are wondering about the young heroes got quirk awakenings during the war and that there are rumors about them even if legitimate news sources are respecting their privacy at the moment.

Article 4: Ministry of Education announces delay in school reopenings

This article was longer than I originally planned but I decided not to cut it because it includes several key points:

The fact that school won't fully resume yet means that Shouto and his family will have time to deal with things before they need to go home. (more on that in Part III)

There is still a lot of fallout and destruction from the war that needs to be dealt with that would affect the logistics of re-opening schools.

Despite the sentiment that heroes shouldn't be placed on a stage and that citizens can and should step up and take action, there would certainly still be many people, like the parent quoted in the article, who think that heroes should deal with their problems.

Acknowledging that the kids (including all of the hero students) need proper support, and that the current quirk counseling system is flawed is the first step toward actual change (which is desperately needed).

In regards to the brief Fuyumi POV, I don't know how realistic it would be for her to be able to take an extended leave of absence, but she's already given up so much to take care of her family, so I decided to give her a supportive principal.

[twosides--samecoin]

sending you more of these because i loved reading your responses to the musical ones: 6, 13, 21, and 29 for the fic writer asks?

Thank you, I really enjoy writer asks and I appreciate being sent them! I ramble a LOT however :'D

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

I have not been able to read fic for fun since I started writing, partly because I do not want to plagiarize or have to dance around someone else's story ideas with Fallout. The only fully recreational, non-research, non-fic reading I have been able to do in two years has been the Alexander Hamilton biography by Ron Chernow, and even then if I don't get background guilt about not doing fic-related reading, I find parallels and things I want to reference and quote anyway. I would read other fic if I could, I just think I won't be able to read Fallout fic unless it is outside my niche (RJ MacCready/Fallout 4)

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

I do round the clock planning; I am kind of always rearranging a new chapter in my head. Most of them start as daydreams; quite often, especially in the earliest chapters, I would have an idea and would just draft and draft and think through it as I wrote, only going back or taking pause to think on dialogue or edit. Planning is normally in the form of research for things I need to figure out to make the world make sense and to ensure things don't take too much suspension of disbelief. I used to edit the old Fallout wiki, Nukapedia, and if I am writing a chapter you can bet I have 10 or 15 tabs open to help me double check spelling and continuity between my story and the game world people know.

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why?

The original intro to Long Time Running was scrapped. It was too wrapped in mystery. I am so glad I did so, because the first chapter holds up well. It has a good hook and is upfront about where it starts in the Fallout story - it is clear from the outset that my SoSu has been the Minutemen General for a while, and that RJ is beginning the fic at the normal end point of his questline, while also creating a reason for the reader to come back and read more. I hope it is successful and makes people curious to see why I started the story where I did.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

I have managed to hang on to a lot. I do have a Google Doc that is retconned/scrapped ideas for the fic, but it's mostly things that necessitated a change after having been written; like stuff I changed my mind on. So a fic idea I have but don't plan on doing is a Cait x Piper Wright romance. I love the idea, I just don't know if I have it in me to deliver the same quality fic as an independent story!

[bardic-inspo]

Summer Reading/Writing/Art Tag Game

Tagged by @electricshoebox and @edaworks a while back, thank you!!

1: Describe one creative WIP project you're planning to work on over the summer.

I’ve started delving into Bring the Gasoline again. I’m very excited but also a little intimidated by the next upcoming plot beats, so I’m taking it slow and trying to be extra patient with myself. (Much easier said than done.)

2: Rec a book.

I sadly don’t read nearly as much as I used to anymore, but I did recently start “This is How you Lose the Time War” by Amal Al-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (the same one recommended by Bigolas Dickolas on Twitter). So far we got a Red Gay and a Blue Gay enemies-to-lovers via letters situation that I’m really enjoying. 

3: Rec a fic.

Also haven’t been reading much fic as of late, but I recently treated myself to Between Sunset and Sunrise, a soft and sexy Arthur Morgan x Charles Smith one-shot by the lovely @electricshoebox that I would highly recommend if you’re wanting to finally see that rootin’ tootin’ cowboy get taken care of for once. Riss is absolutely amazing when it comes to character voice, which I can attest to, having found her writing through Fallout and then branching out into reading some of the stories she’s written for other fandoms. She slips into a new POV like a glove, and it always gives me this warm and fuzzy homecoming sort of feeling to be placed back in a favorite character’s perspective like that. I am also a massive fan of her Deacon x MacCready series, A Line in the Sand. ALITS stole my heart from the first word and has had it in a chokehold ever since. Riss absolutely slays Deacon’s POV and good god every little interaction with these two is so loaded with feelings I could combust just thinking about it. One of my favorite stories of all time, hands down. Reading this one counts as self-love because it is an absolute gift. I will never not be at least a little bit thinking about “They weren’t built for this. They rebuilt themselves for this.” SWOON. 

4: Rec Music

This entire album is golden imo, but this one is my favorite. I'm going to get to see them live (again) in a few weeks!

5: Share One Piece Of Advice

I'll be corny and share a quote from Hamilton: "I am the one thing in life I can control." It's a hard thing to remember, but it's been a sort of compass for me since I heard it the first time, and it's often the thing I find myself needing to come back to when I'm struggling.

(And, of course, you gotta at least internally belt the "I am inimitable, I am an original" lines that come after. Those are very important, too. <3 )

Tagging @atombonniebaby, @persephotea, @some27-url, @valkyriejack, and @mercurymiscellany if you'd like to! No worries if not.

[night-city-valentines]

Starfield Review (finally)

So, my desire to build a spaceship and fly around shooting shit finally outweighed my annoyance at Todd Howard, and I've finished the main story of Starfield.

For some context, I played Starfield Day One. I had a character who I grew pretty attached to, and was planning on seeing everything the game had to offer. Then the game decided my save was busted.

I was so pissed, it took from about a week from Starfield's launch to a couple of days ago for me to even consider starting anew. But that's what I did.

And now, I can safely say that Starfield is a solid 7/10. Maybe a 6 if I'm feeling harsh.

The gameplay itself is, like, whatever. If you've played Fallout 4, it's kinda like that but without VATS. Sometimes (rarely) you'll be in low-gravity areas. Spaceship combat is, honestly, where I have to give the game credit. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and it isn't some simulator. To quote Roddney Toddney Howard, it just works. It's fun to do spaceship dogfights!

What ISN'T fun is a billion loading screens.

Unlike, say, No Man's Sky, space travel is not seamless. There's a cutscene to take off, a cutscene to fly between planets, a cutscene to LAND on a planet. The spaceship feels needless half of the time, and the game really does not put you in enough ship combat segments for my liking. I do like building ships, but even that is hampered by you needing to hop between ports to browse all the parts - which, I remind you, involves about 3 or 4 loading screens.

Onto the characters and stories, yknow the meat and potatoes of an RPG (which Starfield claims to be). When they were revealed as the main group of the game, I saw Constellation and went "Oh god, they're gonna make you be a goody-two shoes". I was half-right. You CAN be a murderous space vandal, but then you have to deal with literally EVERY character in Constellation hating your guts. Fine, I like characters that have a moral code. The problem is that A, how the hell do literally ALL of them hate space pirates, and B, the game contradicts itself! When you first meet her, Sarah Morgan basically says "do what you want, as long as you don't get us into trouble, hell some of us are ex-cons", and then ALSO has a line later on in the story where she implies she has sympathy for Spacers and pirates. Barrett, the only tolerable Constellation member, is not only an ex-smuggler, but briefly befriends a pirate captain holding him hostage, as the two realise they aren't so different. BOTH of these characters IMMEDIATELY get angry with you (not a description of emotion, that is a state within the game) the moment you do piracy near them, or choose to side with the Crimson Fleet (we'll get to that).

The game front-loads itself with interesting ideas, mechanics, and concepts, but then either doesn't expand them, or forgets they existed.

"But V, why would a pirate-aligned person work with a group of explorers?" Uh, money?? Because in the United Sta- I mean Colonies, criminal =/= bad person? Have a character be like "yea I rob people, and I'm like mostly hunting artifacts to maybe make some money, but also I keep my pirate buddies off of our backs and would share the take with Constellation". Boom, I thought of that in 30 seconds, but you're telling me an army of professional writers didn't consider it?

I joked a second ago, but the UC really is just 'what if America but space'. The Freestar Collective is also 'what if america but space', but closer to 'what if wild west but space' with the way things are run. There's also House Varu'un who're religious zealots but, like anything interesting, they have very little screentime outside of a story mission and a faction mission. The whole morality of the game feels very...Suburban Liberal. Again, context here, I am a leftist, so this isn't a wOkE bAd thing.

The game is also...strange when it comes to WHO you get to know. In the MSQ, you have missions with all members of Constellation except one - Noel. Arguably, Matteo, Andreja, and Vlad only get half a mission. Reminder, these are meant to be your MAIN companions. Sure you speak to them during quests, but outside of that its up to you whether you interact with them. Not that you'd want to, they're all fairly...nothing. Except Barrett.

Then, you look at the Crimson Fleet. During their faction quests, you don't often do much mission-ing with them, but you DO get to know them much better than Constellation. The big choice you make in that quest line is whether you help them get a fuckton of cash, or betray them to UC (who you got forced Into working for). Everything about the setup, missions, and just how well you get to know the Fleet, leaves me thinking that you're MEANT to side with the Fleet, but as I said earlier, all of your Constellation-mates will be LIVID.

The main story itself is just...whatever. They set up the quest to find the Artifacts as some kind of 'who made these' thing, but then the question shifts to 'what are these things', and then you find that out and also meet the Starborn and just go 'Well:) glad we solved the mystery!', with the question of their origin only coming up in the ENDING, and EVEN THEN you still don't get an answer, just a hand-wavy "who knoooows" kinda response.

Also the powers are dumb. STOP MAKING EVERY PROTAGONIST A SPECIAL SAUSAGE, BETHESDA, IT IS OKAY FOR THE PLAYER CHARACTER TO JUST BE A REGULAR PERSON!!!!!!!

All in all, Starfield is a game that takes concepts and gameplay from other, better games, half-asses them, and only gets nominated for one category at the Game Awards (that it is definitely going to lose, because its up against Baldur's Gate 3). Fuck you, Todd.

[jembeloved]

phew i loved this! it explains perfectly on why i get annoyed whenever some mu qing stans just try to sold him as something he's not.

in the entire novel it hasn't been shown or mentioned that mu qing has done anything to defy classism or rebel against the feudalistic society. in fact, he seems quite happy to be on top of the pyramide now that he's a god. of course, it gets reveleaed that no other gods do something for the common people except for maybe xie lian and yushi huang. mu qing doesn't break the abusive corrupt cycle, he puts himself in it like a well oiled cog--just like every other heavenly official. hua cheng is not a glorified angel either, the narrative points out many times that a lot of his actions are completely done by his own motives and desires with disregard to others except for xie lian.

AND YET. mxtx still decided to actively write that just as he can be cruel, he can also "do odd acts of kindness", he built a city that very much is implied a shelter for the rejects and the outcasts in society. i remember even a quote (correct me if i'm wrong) that xie lian has always thought there should be a city for the ghosts. we are explicitly said by the heaven's eye and his group that hua cheng sheltered a prostitute who killed a serial rapist. and as op beautifully pointed out, even the act of hua cheng refusing ascension and jumping down from heaven is an act of defying heaven and its corrupt classist society that reflects the mortal world.

mu qing is not an advocate for the lower class as much as his stans want that for him. yes, classism plays a huge part on explaining why he acts the way he does and is the solid ground laid out for his character. but that's all there is, it just explains. yes he was a servant (800+ years ago), yes we know he was bullied and made fun of (even though xie lian defended him many times lmao), and yes we know the ultimate reason he left was because he had to go take care of his mom (which btw, we have no mention of after the fallout in book 4. for all we know, she probably died of old age after mu qing managed to become an official. unlike a certain someone whose parents hung themselves, but what do i know.) nevertheless, yes, mu qing had his reasons and i'm not saying he wasn't a victim or wasn't somehow justified in leaving xie lian, feng xin and the king and queen in book 4. his experience as a lower class citizen very much did shape his character, attitude and view on many things.

he is complex and there is a lot to be explored with his character when you look through the lens of classism and poverty, but it needs to be acknowledged, especially by his stans, that mu qing becomes the thing he probably detested as a mortal. he has flaws, made mistakes, but there was character development in the end precisely because he looked beyond his ego and pride, and recognized that.

I don't even go here, and very rarely interact in this fandom, but now that it seems to have gotten an uptick of notice with the last book for Tian Guan Ci Fu, I am honestly in shock to see how many try to say that Hua Cheng (Hong Hong-er) had not been a victim of classism by Mu Qing.

I'm annoyed enough to have to rant about this as it also dismisses that Hong Hong-er had been abandoned without guardianship due to superstition inherent to lower class positions that relied on the will of heavenly principles that also were classist from inception.

This did include Mu Qing who had consistently told Xie Lian not to help the child throughout the plot and continued the rule of class segregation despite him having been of the same social caste as Hong Hong-er. Yet due to circumstance Mu Qing was able to rise within the ranks of position due to not having the physical and superstitious reputation that plagued Hong Hong-er from birth. This jealousy from Mu Qing that had been exhibited when he refused to continue to let Hong Hong-er rise within the ranks of the Xianle army was not out of subconscious good will to protect a child. He did not see Hong Hong-er as worthy of any sort of position as he had been with rising through ranks. It is a consistent theme between Mu Qing and Hua Cheng that Hua Cheng's dislike of him is due to Mu Qing's callousness of dismissing regard towards the same class of people he came from and the benefits of social rise.

This seems to be dismissed that Hua Cheng, as a ghost, had denied heavenly principles to become a god in the overwrought and classist heavens to stay a ghost and stay a calamity considered disgusting as an existence to those of heaven. It's considered an arrogance by those of safe position and standing for Hua Cheng to deny the offered will of those in power within the system that maintains the caste hierarchy.

Because Hua Cheng was able to create another entity of social life, it exempts him now of the classism that Mu Qing perpetuated when he had been Hong Hong-er. Yet the society that Hua Cheng had made is seen as lesser and base to those in Heaven. Yet at the same time his position as the Lord of Ghost City means he is not the target of the classism he had been attacked by within his previous life. Because somehow he is now Mu Qing's equal in social standing despite this still being untrue. For his power Hua Cheng is still labeled suspicious and of evil intent, very much so from Mu Qing through the present day plot.

What is viable for one is not for any other, or dismissed by the own fandom as not honorable in comparison. The overt theme of classism that is present in the book itself also carries over with how much of the fandom perceives this theme regarding Hua Cheng and his overt opposition of navigating it next to Mu Qing. One did deny the system of classism while the other did continue to follow it without change.