#fo3 spoiler?

[shatinn]

Fallout 3 - Point Lookout - my lone wanderer Abie

[stoat-party]

Just a Handful of My Fallout Headcanons

Preston started playing the harmonica to entertain the other soldiers at night. He still has it, and he’s weirdly good.

Danse was trained as a courser for a few months. He had a bad habit of trying to justify the Institute’s actions, and Dr. Zimmer didn’t like that level of self-awareness, so they sent him back to the general workforce.

Clover eventually joins the Tunnel Snakes. She manages to escape the mindset Eulogy instilled in her, but keeps hating the Lone Wanderer for killing him because it’s easier to be mad than face everything that happened.

Charon would rather die than drink Nuka Cola. He doesn’t understand why people like it. It’s like stale, irradiated syrup that makes your nerves jittery. He’s not a huge fan of sweet foods in general, but he despises Nuka Cola.

Deacon and Barbara had a small herd of sheep. One of the lambs came out a freak mutant and got rejected by her mother, so she became Barbara’s pet. Her name was Calliope.

When the East Coast started getting too dangerous for mutants, Fawkes moved to Oasis and now keeps Harold company.

Raul has met the Ghoul. They feel so-so about each other as people, but game respects game. Raul never figured out he was Cooper Howard, though.

You wouldn’t believe Boone’s actually 26 until you get him in a room with Veronica. They’ll toss food at each other, steal each other’s headwear, hit each other with pillows, you name it. He’ll keep vaguely scowling but he’s having fun.

(Minutemen ending) Glory moved to Acadia and now helps coordinate things with the Railroad from there. She feels like DiMA understands her better than most members of the Railroad do.

[apraxvalith]

I made a joke the other day about the overlaps between all my favorite ghouls and how the Cooper-Desmond-Charon-Hancock Venn Diagram was forming sacred geometry in my mind.

I tried to actually MAKE the diagram (thanks ADHD) and then promptly got mad and gave up (thanks ADHD). BUT ANYWAYS. Here are my Ghoul Thoughts™ as a bulleted list, instead:

[Spoilers below the break, kinda sorta. Probably overkill but I wanna be nice]

Cooper + Desmond:

Nasty awful Pre-War bastards

"Listen princess, if you want to survive you gotta be an absolute cunt like me"

Cooper + Hancock:

Smooth talker

DRUGS

Cooper + Charon:

Dragging around some squishy Vault Dweller and 110% over it

Shotgun gore

Charon + Desmond:

Ambiguous backstory involving heinous science shit

"Please stop saying words at me"

Charon + Hancock:

Companion 💗

"Hang on let me kill this guy real quick, anyways Hi"

Hancock/Desmond:

Immaculate drip

Filthy mouth

All:

Ruined my brain chemistry YAY

Anyways. Yeah. I love them all. And I love how Cooper has just a little bit of everything I already enjoyed about my video game faves. Well done, Fallout TV Show People, your did it ⭐️

[protosymphonette]

theyre MY fallout ocs and i get to play wiuth them like dolls

[targoats]

**Fallout TV Spoilers**

After finally finishing the season I have some Thoughts.

While I am pissed about the whole timeline and absolutely fucking the NCR and therefore the story of New Vegas, I find I can look past it. Like oh well, just not my canon, let me enjoy the humor and aesthetic of the show.

I’m most upset about the ghouls! The whole point of the moral “dilemma” regarding the treatment of ghouls was the ambiguity of them turning feral. In game they had just as much of a chance of turning into a mindless killer as the scavenger down the road turning into a pillaging raider. There was absolutely no certainty in a ghoul’s future and the way society treated them was unfounded and fucked up.

Now they’re just a few treatments away from turning into everyone’s worst fear. What the fuck????

Fuck you Todd.

[rickrossome]

Fallout and Canon protagonists

since the TV teased New Vegas at the end of season 1, I've been seeing alot of people discussing the idea of a "canon courier". I've also seen a few people say they don't want a canon courier because of various reasons. But something I don't see these people mention is this: We've had canon player characters since game 2.

This is the Vault Dweller, from the Vault Dweller's memoirs. He's the canon protagonist of Fallout 1.

In the Fallout 2 manual you'll find the Vault Dweller's Memoirs which go into detail about the canon events of Fallout 1. What choices the Vault Dweller made, who lived and who died, all that fun stuff. And when you finish reading the manual for Fallout 2 and boot up the game, you find those events to be true, the Vault Dweller did those things.

Plus this isn't the only time we've seen a player choice canonized

Deacon in Fallout 4 states "I miss the Capital Wasteland. You can actually drink the water there." which means the Lone Wanderer canonically did not go along with Eden's plan. I understand that most if not all of us have are own headcanons for the Courier and other player characters, but I feel we need to accept that there's gonna wind up being a "canon Courier" just as there is a "canon Vault Dweller"

My advice is to try and think of any "canon Courier" as a separate entity to the Courier you play as in New Vegas. Your Courier still exists in your head and in your copy of NV, but the "canon Courier" exists outside of those places. They exist to help further other Fallout stories, and to make sure the franchise can grow rather than constantly running from the past out of fear of ruining somebodies headcanon.

[atomiclace]

i will forever have a love/hate but mostly hate relationship with this butch interaction bc (if you dont have the dlc) you're literally abt to sacrifice yourself and all you can do is beg him to go in for u which obviously he WONT, and hes like HELL NO MAN! (which is just so funny to me its so spot on, hes my funny guy) but its like WHERE IS THE OPTION TO PROPERLY SAY GOOD BYE TO EACH OTHER?????

you can literally say goodbye to Dogmeat and its so emotional but you cant say goodbye to someone you grew up with, the only person you have thats familiar to you from the Vault?!!?!?! NOT ONLY THAT BUT, I KNOW FOR A FACT BUTCH WOULD BE UPSET LIKE? HIS ONLY FRIEND OUT HERE IS GOING TO SACRIFICE THEMSELVES, AND ALSO KNOWING WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH? Butch literally looks up to the LW and to see them die, not being able to do anything would never sit right with him EVER, you cannot tell me im wrong.

sigh........ whatever *looks out the window sobbing dramatically*

[azures-grace]

Hey

Hey @atomiclace

You wanted to hear about my goobers. (In fake Italian accent) I make-a de post

I'll ramble and then drop a bunch of art of them..

Ok so

Lissy and Butch? At each other's THROATS for like. 12-13 years of their life. She was getting shoved around at like. Age four.

For the most part, after about age nine or so she was just like, "I don't have the energy to care about this" but her apathy like. Made this kid mad, so the issues spiked for a bit, but it stopped being physical attacks after she shot Butch and Co with her BB gun when they jumped her after her party.

After the. Gun violence. They kinda like... Cooled off a bit? Her relationship was more chill with Paul than anyone else. He's all Tunnel Snakes Rule and all that, but they've never had any real vendettas against each other personally. She doesn't like Wally, she thinks his older brother is scary (foreshadowing 😔), and she thinks his whole family hates her (they do 😔) so she doesn't interact.

She might not be getting into physical spats with Butch from 11 up, but she's certainly like. Throwing things at him. They're stabbing each other with pencils instead of fistfighting <3. She ends up sitting right in front of him in class and it's. Not her favorite.

Not a whole lot changes after that until the GOAT.

Big changes: 1) she starts avoiding Wally like the plague after breaking into his family's house and like. I think they're vault fanatics and she's literally just living there, she couldn't care less, the brainwashing ain't working, but the Macks fucking terrify her. 2) she ends up picking up a side gig as the tattoo artist (at first to work on her finger dexterity for lock picking, but she stays because she enjoys the job and the money) and that's where her relationship with Butch starts to develop.

Those two bozos go from enemies to coworkers, but it's like. Coworkers >:[. They're relatively amicable, but they'll argue and she'll mess with his stuff when she goes to search his house. They start eating lunch together. She'll bring him food occasionally. The animosity bar is slowly lowering.

After Freddie joins the gang whenever he does, Felicity just kinda goes, "hey man, we've hated each other forever, how about we change that, your gang has all the men, and I need to not be hated by y'all in the future" and Butch is like. "Ew. Sure." And they become Coworkers :|

There's also this like. Very small period of time where they're like. Off and on in like. The world's worst, most awkward, closed off relationship.

That's mostly because Felicity's generally afraid of attempting to date anyone, because the last time she tried that with Amata at age 13, they got busted by the overseer so fast, and she's for sure it's because she tried to date someone and not because the overseer is like. Very against lesbians because that's not gonna help the vault population or something.

Anywho, so she saves his mom before busting out of the vault and then some months later comes back. I have been bullied into the canon 😔

Anywho, she doesn't kill the Overseer, she gets booted out, and then goes back to mourning her dad. She goes back to Rivet City to get some of Dr Li's things to bring them back to the Citadel. That's where she picks up Butch. They start traveling together and it's. Interesting.

They don't. Really know what to do. They aren't fighting anymore, they're not in the same situation they were in, they're both basically orphaned, you know what time it is? If you guessed two idiot teenagers bullying a bunch of small children, you'd be wrong it's the other way around

So they get their asses beat in Lamplight by a bunch of like. 12 year olds and it's not until they're separated by the enclave that Felicity really realizes "aw shit I do like this guy and I do actually care a lot about him" and when they're back home with the GECK, she's like, "hey I know we're like friends n stuff but like. What if we could be like. Dating." And bam they're. Dating question mark.

After Take It Back and her two weeks of being out, they're pretty much like, "yeah no we're dating now"

They head out west after a year in DC, and they make a lil farm a bit away from Goodsprings, and Felicity gets a job as a fragile items courier. She's got the fragile ones because she's not the fastest walker, but she's never had a package break.

OH NO HEADSHOT TIME

So anyway she finally gets back to Butch after like. Five months of him thinking she's dead because Benny stole her pip-boy. She comes home with her party in tow before going to the fort to break her loser out and get her chip back.

She sends Benny to live with Butch and then goes and Yes Mans her way through Vegas while killing as few people as possible and only getting blown up a few times.

She comes back home and is like

"hey Butch, I've slept with other people in the past 8 months"

"ok."

"also I joined another gang in Vegas"

"

"

Anywho, they start the world's worst poly relationship with Benny, she and Butch get married after a few years, she gets off whiskey, they have a baby they name Catherine, all is well.

In like.... 2284(?) Felicity is like, "hey I know we're nice and settled here and we have a five month old, but I wanna go back home for a while cause they don't have any lactation consultants over there" (when she had Catherine, it took forever to see one in the fort full of doctors, so she was like, "I gotta do something")

So they bully the brotherhood into sending a vertibird (maxon was not happy) and went back to DC

They got called by MacCready to come help him after Lucy died, Felicity immediately said yes because she's like, "omg a baby"

So they go over there, live with him and Duncan for a while, and keep watching Duncan while he goes to find the cure.

After MacCready comes back (with Cynthia, my SoSu), they head out and decide they actually want to go back to the Mojave after a year.

They bully the brotherhood into getting them another vertibird, promise to stay in touch with the MacCreadys, and head back to Vegas.

Then they have their son who they name Paul and I haven't thought much past that.

Pictures time yippee

I don't have a lot of drawings of Paul 😔

[vibescornerr]

fallout 3 spoilers

cw: grief and loss/death.. .

.. .The love of a Parent and their child 💕

[gay-caesar-truther]

Ooh Colonel Autumn you've got a big storm coming. The guy you've kidnapped and are threatening 1) has a death wish 2) has nothing left to lose.

Gabe straight up doesn't know the code but even if he did he'd see to him that neither him nor Colonel autumn leave this room alive.

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT:

PRE-PRELIMINARY #1

Submission 142:

"Fallout 3 is just objectively a terrible game and people are too blinded by nostalgia/franchise loyalty to understand how deep it goes"

(Pre-preliminaries will be used to judge whether this submission qualifies as a hot take. Propaganda is encouraged!)

Submitted justification under the cut:

Every Fallout game since Bethesda took over has had a very distinct central theme. New Vegas is about the past vs the future, Fallout 4 is about personal identity/truth, and Fallout 3 is about ✨morality✨. Every choice in the game boils down to “I’m such a good person, just an innocent little vault baby who wants to help people 🥺” or “HAHAHA MURDER IS FUN I WANT TO EAT BABIES”. (And don’t get me wrong, cartoonishly evil actions can both be very fun and have always had a place in the Fallout series, but this particular installment both prides itself and is propped up by its fans as being a “dark, gritty, mature” on the Fallout setting). It’s always so annoyingly black and white, the only exceptions being when the main story forces you to be evil to progress. And it’s not in a grimdark way, the game seems to genuinely see no issue with it. The two major factions are a replica of the U.S. military that hates mutants and thinks they should be killed via eugenics, and a replica of the U.S. military that hates mutants and thinks they should be killed via genocide. Guess which one is the “good guy” faction! You literally can’t because they’re both basically the same thing and they’re both equally awful. Turns out the hero faction is the genocide one, but they saved you from some hostile mutants one time so actually they’re okay 🥺. Ignore the fact that the mutants are very provably sentient and the only actually selfless and good NPC is, himself, a mutant. It’s fine.

And brief sidebar here to mention that the main story LITERALLY ISN’T COMPLETED UNLESS YOU BUY A DLC. Like technically there’s an “ending”, but you just get to the eleventh hour and then either: a) Die or b) Have the game call you a coward and a bad person because you opted to have someone who is RESISTANT TO RADIATION step into a HEAVILY IRRADIATED AREA instead of killing yourself by doing it because… “thematic parallels” to when they fridged your dad, I guess? So then say you bought the rest of the story for enough real world money to get you like. A nice meal. Or a better game. Then what’s the new ending? Well, it seems at first to be a morally challenging decision! You’ve been sent by the Brotherhood of Steel (aforementioned genocide faction) to infiltrate the base of and then redirect a nuke to the Enclave (aforementioned eugenics faction). Yes you are their most important soldier now. The main character of this game happens to be the only Fallout protagonist with a concrete age (that being 19), but an adult’s an adult I GUESS.

You get to the terminal and prepare to direct the bombs, but you’re presented with a choice as to where to send them. You could direct them at the base you’re in right now, eliminating the Enclave (including innocent non-combatants), or you could choose to disobey your orders and send the, to Megaton, Rivet City, (two major settlements), Project Purity (your father’s life’s work, a lab meant to distribute clean water to the wasteland which has since been blockaded by the BoS because they want to turn a profit off of it), or the Citadel (the Brotherhood’s base of operations). If you choose Megaton, Rivet City, or Project Purity, the game will inform you that those were actually just false choices and you were supposed to pick something else. If you pick the Enclave base, then you get a little good ending cutscene where you’re informed that the Brotherhood is preparing for it’s next mission to go kill a bunch of mutants in the city. Yay! Fun! +100 karma points! But if you instead bomb the Citadel, then you get back and find it’s ruined remains. Grr. Bad. -100 karma. You’re evil now. And yes there was a child soldier there (technically a scribe, not a soldier, but Veronica from NV was also a scribe and she was 27 and killed people so yeah.), but in Fo4 we learn that that kid, as well as that whole branch of the Brotherhood, survived anyways! And need I remind you that there were also noncombatants in the Enclave base. So what’s the moral here? It’s good to be loyal to the racist technofacists that indoctrinated you into joining them when you were barely an adult and just lost your lifelong home? And that’s just the main story.

The karma system for companions is so dumb, really companions in general in this game are awful. But I’m going to get to karma first so that it’ll make more sense why they such so much. Karma fills a role similar to what reputation would later in the series, measuring how much people are inclined to like you based on your previous actions. Except instead of being faction based and measuring how people feel about how you’ve directly interacted with the specific groups they’re affiliated with, it just measures if you’re generally a Good Person or a Bad Person. Very nuanced. To be a good person, give water to homeless people, donate to the church, and take positive actions for the BoS. To be a bad person, steal things, kill non-combatants (oh wait), and take negative actions against the Brotherhood. So if you want to maintain a specific karma, you have to take actions that suit it. The game pushes you towards good karma at certain points in the story, and generally it’s very hard to maintain a neutral score without spilling into good or evil. Anyways, back to the companions. Your fun, unique cast of traveling partners are a series staple, so who do we have? A military robot who will only side with you if you have neutral karma. Your childhood bully who will only side with you if you have neutral karma. A retired raider who claims to be better now, but still does some really awful stuff (and who will only side with you if you have evil karma. A slave and an indentured servant who you can *buy the contracts of.* These are TWO SEPARATE CHARACTERS. They did this TWICE. Plus the slave (who is an asian woman) will constantly fawn over the player (who would have had to have evil karma to buy her) and act romantically towards them. YIKES. I could get into so much more but I’ve been at this for an hour with no music or anything, just venting/ranting. Thanks for putting up with it being so long, by the way, it was kind of cathartic. Just to close things off here: The gunplay is really clunky and unfun, the world is bleak, ugly, and blocked off by a ton of invisible walls that make it a drag to explore, almost all of the characters are a pain to sit through interactions with, and the graphics (though not a dealbreaker), aged really poorly. I’m begging you to just play New Vegas or Fallout 4 instead PLEASE. If you already have then try out the original isometric games. Or the so bad they’e kind of funny spinoffs. Or the mobile game. Or the board game. Or the tabletop roleplaying game. Heck, even 76. Just please don’t play Fallout 3 and stop acting like it’s good.

[shatinn]

Fallout 3 - Point Lookout 3

[stoat-party]

If you’re not weird like me about Fallout lore, feel free to go ahead and ignore this post. Because some people play video games to play them, and not to systematically piece them together as a cohesive whole. And you don’t have to be a perfectionist about something before you’re allowed to enjoy it. But if you’re still reading, I’m forced to correct two Fallout theories I see all the time:

Deacon is not the Lone Wanderer.

Courier Six is not the Lone Wanderer.

A lot of people accept these headcanons and even build them into their OCs, which is why I was hesitant to rain on their parades. But my parade is being anal about lore, so allow me this little timeline dive. The Lone Wanderer left Vault 101 in August 2277, at 19 years old. The earliest confirmed Deacon sighting was late 2273, when he was already a full-fledged Railroad agent. There’s a pretty strong theory that he joined the Railroad much earlier, but regardless, he’s an old, old man (affectionate).

The Wanderer, of course, was studying for the GOAT at this time, so it’s hard to square the two without some serious shenanigans. The Courier’s past is a little more complex, but they have to have been active as a courier in early 2277 at the latest. According to Joshua, the Divide’s destruction happened before the First Battle of Hoover Dam, which took place in 2277:

There’s a reading I’ve heard where the Lone Wanderer finishes up the events of Fallout 3 before 2278 begins (which would just barely be possible with DLCs) and travels west in time to deliver the package. But Ulysses indicates that the Courier had an active involvement with the Divide for some time before it was destroyed.

So between August and January, the timeline would have to be: Leave Vault —> Finish all of Fallout 3 including Broken Steel —> Travel to California for some reason —> Become a mailman —> Travel enough to develop a city —> Blow up that city by accident —> Hoover Dam.

The only other explanation is that Ulysses is confidently wrong and he’s thinking of a different courier. Which is hilarious, and more power to you if you accept it as a headcanon, but it does do some violence to the Themes and whatnot.

(If you’re interested, here is my personal theory re. Deacon and the Lone Wanderer)

[danses-with-dogmeat]

When I finished Fallout 3 for the first time, I bawled at James’ death. My mom had walked in and I looked at her, eyes bloodshot, tears running down my face and said “Fallout Dad died.”

She sighed and walked away. I received a bowl of ice cream half an hour later.

See? Your mom understands. And YOU understand 😭

It really was genuinely heartbreaking though, all that time and effort, the almost happy ending, and then BOOM

It's all torn away and you're left a bumbling, crying mess with nothing but ice cream to dull the pain.

Which... happens more often than not with fallout games, I think. Or is that just me? 😅

[sleepycatofshimano]

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Hello! As mentioned in the author's note in the link above, I have been more-or-less chronically reading Cooper Howard | The Ghoul/Reader fan-fiction, and have finally decided to bite that damned, silver bullet and write a story of my own.

Of course, this is only the first chapter of many, but I intend on seeing this narrative through to its bittersweet end; as such, reading this grand, epic, and weird adventure, featuring you, a Megaton settler, and the one-and-only Cooper Howard, would mean the absolute world to me... As quoted by the silly, little rad-man himself, 'I do this shit for the love of the game.'

Any and all information about the story (as well as an excerpt) can be found below! <3

fandom ➳ Fallout (TV 2024), Fallout 3

word count ➳ 5,056

warnings & tags ➳ Cooper Howard | The Ghoul/Reader, Cooper Howard | The Ghoul/You, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Swearing, Alcohol, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Consensual Sex, Prostitution, Sexual Assault, Fluff and Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Public Sex, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Age Difference, Sexual Tension, Poverty, Teasing, Getting to Know Each Other, Ghoul Grinding, The Ghoul is His Own Warning, Nuka Cola Abuse, The Ghoul Acquires a Travelling Companion (follow link for more tags)

summary ➳ Shady Sands. You were told there would be someone waiting for you there. Of course, this was many years ago---far before you'd stumbled across Megaton, a small, dead-end settlement holding zero shame for their new way of life. In 2277, though, your nights are occupied entertaining the patrons of Moriarty's Saloon, constantly striving to earn enough caps to finally plan a safe way---the safest way one could possibly muster in the Wasteland---out of Megaton.

But on one of the many nights you spend downing Nuka Cola as though it were pre-War water, a strange man waltzes into Moriarty's Saloon. Growing up, you always knew mutants were dangerous, but your best friend just so-happens to be one; the bartender who works at the saloon, day in and day out, Gob the Ghoul. So, when you are faced with another one of his kind, clearly tired and parched, you find it hard to break your own promise to yourself: to never become a Ghoul-fucker.

Desperate and in need of caps, however, you find yourself in the most peculiar situation... A way out of Megaton, in lieu of a single, earned cap through your services: A loudmouthed Ghoul, a chilling bounty, and a pre-War device that may yet know the way to Shady Sands.

excerpt ➳ A stern, leather grip had slowly clamped down upon your back, nestling into the bare crevice of your shoulder; it was far tighter than Gob’s hand. Standing, now, on your left, a tall man bearing dusky rags and some of the quirkiest boots you’d seen in a while, brushed up against your opposite shoulder. With his hand still clamped down against your skin, he leaned in beside your face as he looked Gob up and down; twice—no, thrice over.

Then, he spoke with a toothy grin. ‘You the barkeep ‘round here, eczema?’

His voice was like polished leather—which you had only ever heard in the pictures, which Moriarty seldom played around here, anyways—with a Southern twang melded amidst a baritone husk.

It was unique; not an accent commonly heard around Megaton, and certainly not a voice you had heard over any radio frequencies that this shit-hole ever managed to pick up. In other words, you were already a tad intrigued by this odd man, whose hand was still latched onto your skin; and maybe it was a good idea not to wear leather tonight.

But when you looked up at the newcomer, your smirk had faltered faster than a Gulper downing its next meal.

‘Well? You gon’ keep a paying customer from enjoying a whiskey?’ the stranger exclaimed, looking around at the other guests. Fervently, Gob nodded his head—quickly cursing at himself as he began to shake his head like a lunatic. The stranger grinned, now, looking back towards Gob with a slow nod. ‘Neat-o, then. Thanks a shit ton, partner,’ he continued. Then, he tapped one finger against your shoulder with a nod, speaking lower as he addressed you, and you alone. ‘Darlin.’’

Finally, he removed his hand from your person, but instead of taking the seat next to you, like you had assumed would happen, he began to walk around the small room, eyeing every guest—everyone you knew by secret and name—with a curt nod; far more distant than the one he’d given you.

Well, you didn’t really care. Because it was another fucking—

‘Ghoul,’ Gob sputtered out.

Immediately after the stranger had walked away, you and Gob locked eyes with a shared horror; though, yours reflected the tiniest bit of curiosity in them, and Gob could sense it from a mile away. Slowly, he shook his head, mouthing the words ‘No,’ but it was too late. Moriarty had burst through the front door, nearly knocking the rickety thing off its hinges. He slurred something to Lucy as he walked by, but when he plopped down beside you on the only empty barstool, his smirk and swaying had ceased.

‘Fuck’s got you all spooked like a heated kitten, Gob?’ he exclaimed, squinting ahead as he searched your friend’s face for any signs of an answer. ‘You creepin’ out another customer?’ Moriarty was practically sneering at this point, and you were really beginning to wish that stranger could have taken up his attention, instead of poor Gob.

And, well, those prayers were answered pretty fucking fast.

As though the unfamiliar, and only other Ghoul you had ever seen had been listening in on your thoughts, he slowly approached the bar once more; this time, however, he rested against the wooden table, standing at your opposite shoulder. Then, he leaned over the narrow island, looking past you to meet Moriarty’s shocked gaze; with a hoarse chuckle, the stranger nodded back towards Gob with a cheeky grin, peeling and burnt skin creasing with his laughter.

‘This nut job here your boss?’

Once again, you and Gob met eyes with shared frowns. Slowly, Gob moved his gaze towards Moriarty, then back to you, then to the strange Ghoul standing to your right. ‘Maybe,’ he croaked.

The stranger slammed his fist down against the wooden island, nearly driving his leather glove through its cheap contents. ‘Maybe there’s a pretty, little thing seated at my shoulder, and maybe this bird-shit toupee-wearer over here’s your boss, little man! Truthfully, I want to know what takes a gentleman so long to make my drink. I couldn’t care less ‘bout the freaks that run this fine establishment,’ he began, quickly gathering the attention of the entire bar. Even Nova had peeked her head out from the raggy curtains of the room she had been entertaining. ‘But don’t feed me lies, sweetheart. Now, we good here?’

Frantically, Gob began gliding his hands over every damn cup he could get his pale fingers on, knocking glasses over every which way, until he finally found a short glass to pair with the bottle of whiskey he’d been clutching, like his life had depended on it.

Did his life actually depend on that bottle of whiskey?

The stranger watched with his mouth slightly ajar and his chin tilted upwards, as Gob began to pour the other Ghoul his drink.

Oh, shit.

With a hurried whisper, you looked down in horror at the maple liquid running down thick cubes of ice. ‘He meant neat, Gob. Neat whiskey.’ With a rapidly increasing heart rate, you realised Gob hadn’t heard your indistinct correction, so you decided—frantically—to try a different approach. ‘Neat-o!’ you exclaimed, throwing your arms into the air with a forced laugh.

Every goddamn settler in that saloon stared at you, as if you were some sort of radroach apologist, or worse, a Ghoul-fucker.

‘Little lady,’ that sweet, fucking Southern accent drawled—and he was so damn close to your ear, you could feel the sick warmth of his ghoulish breath. ‘You ain’t seen a female raider and a little gal walkin’ through this ticking time-bomb of a shithole, have ya?’ His voice had suddenly dropped a certain octave or two, and that playful tug at his lilt had quickly vanished.

You shook your head once, refusing to look up at the wicked creature at your neck.

‘No? Well, then, I’d best be goin’. Y’all offer whiskey-ta-go? Preferably in one of them Nuka Cola bottles, like this little lady right here,’ the stranger exclaimed, looking around at the rest of the patrons as he grinned wickedly in turn. ‘All I’ve been met with since I strolled into this here’s town, is disappointment. Well, the Enclave must have sucked your titties and drained your cocks dry of the last droplets here called freedom of speech.’ He looked down at you again, and that sneer had slowly settled into more of a grin, than anything. ‘Y’all have yourselves a fine evenin’.’

‘Wait!’ Moriarty shouted, knocking his barstool over. ‘Wait a moment, there. You’re a Ghoul, ain’tcha? Well, it just so-happens that we’re renting rooms for half-off tonight, if you buy a drink… or two. Specifically for Ghouls. Trust me, this deal is worth it! The Wasteland is cold and dry at night, and a good man like yourself shouldn’t have to spend a night in such solitude, when instead, you could be spending it with these fine ladies!’ Moriarty looked around at both you and Nova with a cheeky grin, then stood up to place a gentle hand on the stranger’s worn-leather shoulder. ‘How’s that deal sound to you, good sir?’

Read the entire first chapter here!

[anonymousgayrobot]

as someone who grew up watching bad liam neeson movies to bond with their shitty father, no one prepared me for booting up fallout 3.