#i just want an excuse to use layla tbh
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rubys-domain · 1 year ago
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i want to update my build plans on main, this time focusing more on individual characters than teams. it's gonna be a long one so here we go:
Pyro
Lyney
Issues:
- not on 4pc marechaussee
- cannot burst on cooldown
- not yet triple crowned
Dehya
Issues:
- 4pc tenacity unleveled + bad stats
- not max asc/level
- not max level bell
Bennett
Issues:
- flower not max level
- need crit circlet
- need more atk substats
- could level up skill
Geo
Albedo
Plans:
- lvl 90/90
- triple crown
- 4pc husk def/geo/def
- 2k def
- harbinger of dawn
Yun Jin
Plans:
- lvl 80/90
- skill lvl 6, burst 9/crown
- fav lance
- idk what set to use
Gorou
Plans:
- lvl 80/90
- idk just support build for dps albedo
Dendro
Nahida
Plans:
- lvl 90/90
- not sure of the other details. just off-field dendro for cyno hyperbloom
Baizhu
Issues:
- not nearly enough er to burst on cooldown
- could get c1
Collei
Plans:
- lvl 90/90
- triple crown
• physical
• nilou bloom driver
• burning(?)
Anemo
Venti
Plans:
- lvl 80/90
- skill 6, burst 9/crown
- 4pc vv full em(?)
Kazuha
Issues:
- no onset er sands
- no onset em circlet
- goblet substats are trash
- need just a tad more crit rate
- lvl 6 skill, lvl 6 normals if i can be bothered
- could get c1
Sucrose
Plans:
- lvl 80/90
- 9/9/9 talents
- 4pc vv full em
- sac frag
Lynette
Plans:
- lvl 80/80
- skill lvl 6, burst lvl 6
- fav sword
- 4pc vv adc(?)
Sayu
Plans:
- lvl 70/80
- skill lvl 6, burst lvl 6
- 4pc maiden's atk/atk/hb(?)
Cryo
Chongyun
... oh boy...
i feel like he deserves a whole post to himself. so that's what i'm gonna do
Shenhe
Plans:
- lvl 80/90
- cryo support build
Layla
Issues:
- not yet 90/90
- need better tenacity pieces. yeah, all of them need an upgrade
- get more er to burst on cooldown assuming double cryo
- could level burst to 6
- get the damn hp sword
Rosaria
Issues:
- no proper noblesse set yet
- needs way more er
- talents could be leveled
Mika
Plans:
- wait for his last con
- 4pc noblesse hp/hp/hb(?)
- fav lance
Freminet
Plans:
- lvl 80/90
- 9/9/9 talents
• physical
- 4pc pale flame atk/phys/crit
- sobp
• cryo
- 4pc blizzard strayer atk/cryo/crit
Hydro
Kokomi
Issues:
- no proper tenacity set
- not enough er to burst on cooldown
- ttds not yet max level
Nilou
Plans:
- i have no idea how to build her tbh. will update this later
Xingqiu
Issues:
- 9/9/10 talents
- his emblem build suuuuuuuucks
- needs better all offensive stats
Candace
Plans:
- hydro normals enabler build
Electro
Cyno
Issues:
- staff of homa not yet max level
- cannot burst on cooldown w/o fischl
- needs so much more crit rate
- just get him better gilded pieces honestly. just replace them all
Fischl
Plans:
- 4pc golden troupe adc (yeah fine i give. i already have too many other tenacity holders to farm for)
- alley hunter (i'm taking every excuse not to level stringless. here's hoping i get refinements on it)
Beidou
Plans:
- taser build
Kuki Shinobu
Plans:
- off-field hyperbloom trigger build
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stillgotme · 7 years ago
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you came through with the sativa
previously | next | beginning
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polin-erospsyche · 3 years ago
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The prompt number 16 is quite interesting lol 16. “Control your anger or you’ll have me to worry about.” Choose the ship/character you like :)
Hello! Ok, there are literally zero reasons as to why it took me a year to write this bloody thing except maybe that I had some not fun moments and also this literally never could have been written if I hadn’t waited this long. I don’t know if you’ll read it. You’ve probably forgotten about this in all fairness but if you do read it I hope you like it. 
Also taking this opportunity to thank everyone for following me. I’m at 400 followers! This is insane. I’m not sure why you’re all following tbh but to celebrate I forced myself to finish this long overdue fic, hope you like it! Also disclaimer: I love all of the characters from TLH. I am aware of the existing debate around Matthew and Alastair and my writing in here does not represent my point of view. But I I decided to represent Matthew and his view in this way for story telling purpose. Please don’t come at me with gun blazing. If you do wanna talk, we can, but in peace 😊💕
Somewhere Where Our Shadows Meet, It Feels Like Coming Home - 
a Fairdale one-shot (is that even their brotp name???) 
This was the fifth time James was rereading the passage of the book he had picked up. It was no use. Each time he finished the page he had already forgotten the beginning. His mind was foggy with a multitude of thoughts. Thoughts about Lucie and her strange dalliance with a boy who used to be a ghost, about Grace which inevitably led to unsolicited questions on his own identity, and, as much as he tried not to think about it, thoughts of Matthew and Cordelia. He really did not enjoy these last kinds of thoughts. He couldn’t help but imagine what kind of relationship could have blossomed between the two during their trip to Paris. He knew how Matthew felt, but when it came to Cordelia, he had no single clue. He constantly wondered as to whether she hated or loved him. Daring to hope that he hadn’t ruined everything. Just for that hope to vanish the next second because there was no possible way he did not ruin it. And even if ever decided to ask her, he would have no idea how to approach the topic without sounding like an arrogant bastard.  
James let out a long breath, rolling his shoulders, trying to let go of the tension. He was pretty sure that if he ventured to look at himself in the mirror that was hung above the chimney, he would see huge dark circles beneath his eyes. Circles which color could rival the color of London’s night sky. A result of many nights plagued by bad dreams and worry. During some of those sleepless nights, James had gone to Cordelia’s room. The first time it was under the pretext of looking for books. Her room had been full of her personal belongings. A bottle of perfume on her vanity table, an evening dress carefully laid out on the chaise longue, a copy of Majun and Layla on her bedside table. So many little pieces of who Cordelia was scattered in a room she had run away from. She hadn’t been back to Curzon street since that night. Upon arriving in London, she had decided to move back with her mother using the excuse of the soon-to-be new baby’s arrival. James kept going to her home though, eventually admitting to himself that he did so because of the smell of Jasmin that lingered. It was the closest thing he had to a semblance of her presence in the house. It was a soft smell that grounded him. It was also a heady smell that reminded him of the sweetness he had lost.
He shook himself out of thoughts of her. Something he had gotten quite good at to be fair, considering how many times he thought of her in the span of a day. Pushing himself up from the table he was leaning against, he closed the book he was reading, giving up on understanding it, and made his way to the window. Outside the sky was tinged in pastel colors drawing the day to a close. James would slowly make his way back home. He would rehash the day, come up with new plans to wake his sister from her deep sleep, find out that these plans would fail again come morning, and finally decide that he would need to eat a bite because going to bed with an empty stomach was just not advisable. His parents had offered for him to stay at the Institute with them but James had refused. He preferred the calm and silence of Curzon Street. He found that the bittersweet cloak that covered his house was, in some ways, almost reassuring. Maybe he was going insane. Just when he was ready to go bid his goodnight to his family, he heard the doors of the library open wide behind him and slammed shut again.
“Did you know?” Matthew growled. James might have thought that he himself had gone slightly deranged chasing down the smell of Jasmin throughout his home, but at least he did not look half as unhinged as Matthew looked right this instant. Matthew’s eyes were wide, his pupils dilated, and his fist clenched so tight his knuckles were turning white.
“Are you alright?” James asked, keeping an even tone.
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
Matthew took a few strides in James’ direction. His stare holding James’ gaze in place as if daring James to contrary him. “Did you know about Thomas?”
“Um yes,” James nodded, a sly smile playing on his lips. “I do know Thomas.” At that Matthew narrowed his eyes and almost seemed as if he was trying hard not to grind his teeth. Noted. Attempts at humor and alleviating the situation were not going to work. “What about him?” James tried again. His smile replaced by a serious gaze.
“Did you know about Alastair?” Matthew asked, almost spatting out Alastair’s name.
James took a few steps back, reinstating the much-needed personal space for such a conversation. James did know about Alastair, but only because Thomas had looked so miserable and James had pried so insistently that Thomas had had no choice but to give up his well-kept secret. James had understood, sometimes you couldn’t choose who you fell in love with. Sometimes you fell in love with something that only you saw in the other person. Love was usually shrouded in mystery this way, best not to question how it worked. Obviously, by the look of things, Matthew did not agree.
“Please sit down,” James pointed to one of the green velvet armchairs. “I’ll pour you a drink.” James said, making his way to the stash of liquor in one of the dark wooden commodes. James had always wondered what kind of people, for what kind of situation kept alcohol in the library of all rooms. It always seemed to him that a secret stash of tea would have been more appropriate. Now he understood what kind of situation required people to put alcohol in every room, even if it was just one abandoned bottle of Parkmore. “Is Whiskey alright?” James turned his head in Matthew’s direction.
“So you knew?” Matthew answered, seemingly in a staring competition with the mustard yellow wallpaper in front of him. “He told you?”
Whiskey it would be for a total lack of all other present choices James thought as he started to pour a glass.
Matthew kept going on his verbal onslaught towards the wallpaper. In all fairness mustard yellow was a color that could potentially enrage everyone. “How can he? It’s Alastair that we are talking about. It’s not as if there wasn’t any other man in London that Thomas couldn’t have a fling for.”
James very much doubted that a fling could start to describe Thomas’s feelings for Alastair. However, seeing how Matthew was nearly spitting out every single one of his words, he thought it safer not to share this piece of information.
“Matthew, please calm down and control your anger or you’ll have me to worry about.” James handed the glass to Matthew, which he waved away.
“No, thank you. I don’t drink.”
James squinted. “Since when?”
“Since Paris.”
James couldn’t help but feel a pinch in his chest at the mention of Paris. Paris city of lights, city of lovers. An escape his friend had taken with the only girl James had ever, truly, loved since he was barely old enough to understand the concept. It was a wondrous thing how much pain a single word could hold.
“What a strange place to decide to stop drinking.” James took a sip of the honey-colored liquid, trying to hide his hurt to the best of his ability.
“Cordelia asked me to. That was her condition for coming with me.”
James did not want to go in the general direction of a conversation that involved Cordelia. Especially not if that conversation was with Matthew. He had written a letter. James had understood. He slightly had the urge to strangle his best friend for going with her; for loving her; he did not quite know. But that was it. They hadn’t spoken of Paris nor of Cordelia together and that was for the best. Neutral conversations were for the best, they could avoid the hurt and the blame, and if James let it come to that again who knew what would be next. Yet he couldn’t help but ask.
“Why did you leave?”
Matthew turned to James, his anger receding ever so slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” A beat, a choice to either keep going or retreat before it is too late. A beat, a choice to see where this could go “why did you go to Paris?”
“You owe me an answer first. Did you know about Alastair?”
“Yes.”  
“How could you not tell me?”
“You weren’t here Matthew.” James’ voice almost broke, almost. “How was I supposed to tell you anything?”
James had wanted to throw so much more at Matthew’s face. Throw words that he wouldn’t be able to take back. He had been feeling so alone. So utterly lost after Grace’s admission. After Cordelia’s departure. He had needed his best friend. He had wanted to tell him so much, to figure it all out with him. To have Matthew hold him at times when he didn’t know if he could hold it up together and tell him, simply, that he believed in him. But Matthew hadn’t been in London. He had been in Paris. Happy. With Cordelia.
“And you accept it?” Matthew asked, carefully studying James.
“I guess it depends on what we are talking about. In any case,” James turned away from the fireplace to look at his friend. “why are you so against it if it makes Thomas happy?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because Alastair doesn’t deserve to be loved?”
“Maybe it is more about deserving a second chance rather than deserving of love. Maybe it is about getting a chance to fix your mistakes. Surely no one is worthless of that.”
“Sometimes the mistakes are too big to fix.” Matthew shrugged, breaking eye contact.
“Is that why you ran away?” The question was asked so softly as if asked any louder and James would be terrified to see Matthew run away again. James wasn’t sure he could bear it, no matter how much frustration towards Matthew he still felt.  
“I didn’t run.” Matthew shook his head. His gaze far and distant as if in another land, in a shadow realm. “I took a train, there’s a difference. And I left because of Cordelia.”
James had an inkling he hadn’t left because of Cordelia but rather Cordelia had followed in a desperate pursuit to drown both of their sorrows in the glamour of a city like Paris. After all, Paris was so similar to Matthew, it was no wonder he had chosen it. At the surface, both were golden and shining like a polished jewel box. Once that jewel box was open, however, shadows, pain, and sadness would pour out like a damn breaking loose.
“I never thought you’d try to run away from me.” James knelt in front of Matthew, his knees landing on the soft midnight blue carpet. “That one day, I’d become a part of the shadows that you try to outrun.”
Matthew turned around so fast and reached for James’ face. His green eyes were darker than usual. “You’re not my shadows, Jamie Bach. You’re my home. You are the reason why I still believe I’m worth being forgiven for.” He said those words like a damned man dying for a confession, following blindly a faith he held so dear to his heart, hoping that that faith could be his saving grace. James understood that he had become that faith.
“Forgiven for what?” James asked.  
“I can’t tell you.”
“It’s me, Matthew. What is so bad that you cannot tell me?”
“I can’t tell you because I’m afraid. I need you to stay with me. I need you to believe that I am good, even if it means that you believe in a lie.”
“Matthew …”
“If you keep choosing me and believing in me,” Matthew interrupted. If he couldn’t finish now, he never would. “then maybe I can believe that I am no monster.”
“You are not a monster, you are my parabatai.”
James felt like they were back on that bridge, at night, so close to being let in in Matthew’s secrets. Back then James hadn’t been in control of himself, he hadn’t known what was happening to him. He had lost his chance. It would not happen again. It could not happen again. James was so tired of walking a frayed rope line with Matthew, guessing at hinted truths. Being someone’s constant north took work and time and effort but because it was Matthew, James could do it. He would always do it and he needed Matthew to know that as clearly as they both knew that one day would come when they would both cross the other side together. Because after all, that was what it had always been about. Despite shadows and lies and deceptions and miscommunication, they would always be together. So James continued.  
“Do you know what that means? It means that I made a promise to you. I said entreat me not to leave thee, for wither thou goest, I will go. If aught but death part thee and me. I will not leave. No matter what you’ve done, I will stand by you, because that is the choice that I have made. That I still make. There is not a thing in this world that you could have done that would make me stop loving you, calon fy enaid.”
Matthew looked up at James and teased “Does that mean that you accept my feelings for Cordelia?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I must say, I don’t think I’m her type. It’s a pity, really.” Some strands of Matthew’s hair fell in his eyes as he shook his head. James could see the old Matthew again. The carefree one that balanced out his own shadows so well. The one he would choose and forgive a thousand times over because he too was his home.
“Matthew.”
“All right, all right.” Matthew threw his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender. “I just … wish you could promise that I would not lose you.”
“I promise.”
“You can’t promise something you don’t know.” Matthew said before he started to talk about his own misbeliefs that had led to a terrible accident. James listened and did not judge and stayed long in the night after Matthew had said everything that had weighted so heavy on his heart for so long. And somewhere, under the warm light of oil lamps and next to a warm fire, the frayed rope between the two started to mend and James could only describe the feeling as one of coming home.  
Tag List: @lady-ofroses @clockworknights @the-axewielding-herondale @tess-the-dreamer @coloandreablog
Do let me know if you want to be on the tag list and I’ll happily add you! (I have a tag list now visibly, wild and mind-blown) I will try to post more now that my exams are somewhat done. Who am I kidding? There will always be more stuff to do XD
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pinkbarefacedbeauty · 4 years ago
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Jealousy?
IF The Last had actually been canon......
You could argue that EVERYONE knows that Hinata likes Naruto. But why would Sakura be so worried about Hinata’s feelings? Why would she be so overly conscious of it? 
This is pretty typical of jealousy. When you have a love rival, and you are self deprecating, not only do you notice the feelings of your rival but you start to push your feelings back. And YOU start backing away or pushing the other person closer and start to list all the way in which YOU think the other person would be a better fit. 
Sakura was self-deprecating as a child (when SHE was bullied *cough* stolen origin. Calling you out Hinata *cough* ) and still kind of doubts her self every now and then when seeing how Naruto and Sasuke are leagues beyond the rest of K11. 
(Reply 1988): This kind of reminds me of Junghwan v. Taek who both loved Deoksun. In which Junghwan is Sakura. (The only difference is Taek actually interacted with Deoksun unlike Hinata with Naruto). When Taek and Junghwan noticed how hard the other is laughing at Deoksun’s dance, you see they both start to realize the other’s feelings for Deoksun. And Junghwan in his self-deprecating ways and having no desire to hurt Taek starts to back away. Taek on the other hand unflinchingly chooses love, not because he doesn’t care for Junghwan but that he is just that in love with Deoksun. I, myself was team Junghwan all the way (I. am so similar to him), but TaekSun grew on me.
Taek was so forward in his own way. Like when they were left alone on the beach, like when he followed her to the bathroom when they heard there was a flasher on the loose. Like when he carried her when she twisted her ankle. When he deeply hugged her but only smiled at his other friends when they visited. There were so many little things here and there.
Junghwan was forward in his brusque tsundere way. If he would have made it to the movie theater before Taek, I am certain she would have ended up with him. Junghwan gains courage too late.
That’s how I feel with Sakura. In that scene when she is lying on the floor. It’s so self-deprecating and a guilt trip to Naruto...
I don’t think that she felt that she deserved Naruto’s love (cut to her breaking down when Sai told her). I don’t think she even believes she deserves Sasuke’s even now, It’s just she spent so long pining after him and now she has him as a consolation prize....but what was she really chasing?? Looking at SS and NH, it feels so empty bc they settled for who they didn’t truly love in fear of being alone. And that actually happens in real life tbh too. 
It’s basically a “no way you could have actually loved me. Me? of all people? are you sure?? What about Hinata? She liked you all this time. Could really love someone like me?? Do you not think of her? How could you not have??”.....Why would Sakura of all people be pushing Hinata so heavily??? (I think this was the studio’s attempt at showing->hey look NS fans, Sakura supports Hinata!!! Like that’ll make us forget the tons of evidence) Hinata could have had literally anyone else talk to her about her love. Like Kurenai, her sensei ,who promised to look after her. Even Ino wouldn’t be too far fetched becasue Ino would like to gossip on things like that imo at the flower shop. And again EVERYONE is aware of her feelings (Just like EVERYONE is aware of Naruto’s for Sakura) Or even have her have a sisterly conversation with Hanabi (show their repaired/repairing relationship).....why Sakura out of all people??
Sakura must have been sleeping on this/thinking of this for so long. 
I felt like that part while so stupid (as why would Naruto whose nindo is to never give up, give up immediately??) could also be Sakura’s way of trying again. With Sakura saying all of that, if he went “no I know my feelings, I am not an idiot, of course I knew of Hinata’s feelings since pain but I love you. It’s always been you”, I feel that they would have gotten together. STILL. In NH’s own movie. STILL, the chemistry between Naruto and Sakura was overpowering. That one scene alone where he jumps from the bird jutsu thingy to catch her trumps ALL of NH scenes not only in series/manga but in their own movie as well. 
(All American) I’m watching All American on The CW lately, and to debunk Spelivia alot of people like to use “they’re like brother and sister” as an excuse of why they don’t support them as well. And i’m like I know plenty of females/males who claims that someone that they later end up messing with is just like a sibling to them. I felt the chemistry between Olivia and Spencer since day 1. I like Layla and Asher, but Olivia and Spencer just have that bomb chemistry. 
I could make another comparison in how Naruto jumping from the bird is evident of how he loves her. He jumps, falls (fall-ing in love anyone??) and reaches towards her. This reminds me of Into the Spiderverse, with that iconic scene in which Miles does a trust fall/leap off a building going towards the ground/ the city he loves and wants to save. (I LOVED THIS MOVIE. YAY PT.2) 
Everybody and their mama know I could ramble for days about this. For now, I’ll think of a pt.2 later.
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meggannn · 7 years ago
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assassin’s creed origins
2 days and 24hrs of playtime later... spoilers below cut
i completed ‘the hyena’ last night. random thoughts:
it definitely feels like a mix of an rpg and typical assassination stuff now. honestly i’m still not thrilled about the rpg stuff, i’m not entirely convinced the series needed it (particularly the new combat system - nty), but there are some things i don’t mind, like having an inventory, ONLY because there seems to be no limit to items you can carry, so like, THANK GOD
layla hassan is an angel and i want to be her girlfriend
bayek is a protector for ALL of egypt and the last medjay left (why?? how does he know this??? surely there are at least one or two others? are they being hunted), and while this and his past is cause for angst internally, he is so genuinely kindhearted and good with kids (AND ANIMALS!! HE TALKS TO ANIMALS AND PETS CATS AND REASSURES THEM IT’LL BE OK). on the flip side there is this ruthless sense of vengeance that drives him to be vigorously thorough in assassinating his targets
i didnt care much for the first ‘wave’ of assassinations, but now that we’re on the second (the scarab/the hyena/the crocodile/can’t remember the last one) i like that we’re taking more time out to get to know them, particularly the scarab. i did not see that coming until the actual dinner lmfao, and then when bayek faints and wakes up in the desert and you see ‘THE SCARAB’ with his real identity appear below, like, chills man. also the hyena’s story was really sad and i kept hoping bayek might decide to sway her to his cause instead out of their shared experience. like, when they both died, i got serious chills man, esp when the hyena got dragged into the underworld by her own animals. (i wondered for a second if they were meant to symbolize ammit?)
speaking of the hyena, i don’t know if i’m exaggerating or imagining this, but i want to be on the lookout for stuff like this. so far the hyena and scarab are the darkest skinned prominent black characters (that i’ve noticed) and they’ve both been evil. particularly the hyena, who’s the only prominent black woman aside from aya, who’s light skinned. (i keep waiting for more women...) also i’m just, not really thrilled by the whole ‘motherhood gone wrong’ aspect, i find it kind of lazy and think you can come up w something more interesting for a female villain, but also part of me doesn’t really want to argue it ‘cause it does seem like it’ll be a plot point later.
also: first civilization stuff. what the FUCK was up with that and why did bayek have, like, no reaction to it? i listened to a ten-minute long lecture from one of the first civ and tripped tf out, and bayek is just... *shrugs* “ok time to kill my target” then when the hyena says “you saw it too??” and he says “it wasn’t meant for us!” like bayek would probably rationalize it as a message from the gods, right? he’s not a HIGHLY religious man (i mean he steals from tombs ffs, tho that’s another thing that annoys me, why would someone who values the pharaoh so much be ok with grave robbing -- i know they excuse it with him “needing this for his journey” when he says “forgive me great amun, i have need of this” but... idk, i feel like an egyptian at his rank might be a little more respectful?) but he is spiritual in that he believes in the gods’ power, so i’ve been thinking/assuming his interactions with the First Civ are going to be framed within that belief. i’m a little nervous about this tbh, i don’t want this to be a “the egyptians actually built the pyramids thanks to aliens/the ones who came before, and all their gods are myths!!!” story, but.... i dunno, i have some hope
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hipwrites · 8 years ago
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So I got really nostalgic for Fallout RP and started thinking about Courier AUs and this is going under a cut because it got very long
Gio
The main reason Gio ended up as a Courier was a lack of other viable options--him and Gracie stayed in business with Leo about as long as it was obvious that it wasn’t working out. Gracie had better things to do and left to find somewhere her muscle could make her a living, and Leo’s way of doing business is to backstab every major faction while dealing with other factions they hate so blatantly and ruthlessly it’s amazing that it never backfired badly. Gio finally had to leave as a matter of safety, and without a passport for the Strip his options to make money with quick thinking were severely limited. He never expected to be caught up in transporting something that someone would shoot him in the head over since most of the early jobs he took were simple.
Gio as the Courier involves about as much flirting and talking his way out of danger as you’d expect. He has absolutely tried to hit on Joshua, like the second he got a glimpse of his ass he quietly wondered if god was testing him for being such a godawful Catholic in the form of perfectly sculpted cheeks.
He gets along best with Veronica, Cass, and Raul but Christine is the companion he feels the most kinship with for reasons he can’t entirely articulate.
Starts out sympathetic to the NCR, but also kind of likes and trusts House but doesn’t like the way he talks about a lot of factions and slowly getting more and more disillusioned with both as he goes. By the time he has people pressuring him to wipe out The Brotherhood of Steel and the Khans, he’d be feeling incredibly stressed and increasingly upset at the idea he’s being used to hurt people. He goes for an independent Vegas after a lot of soul-searching because it’s the only thing that feels right, even though the idea of running things scares the shit out of him. Mostly, he hopes he can get things stabilized and hand the reigns over to somebody else more qualified.
Leo, meanwhile, is practically drooling at the thought that someone who likes him a lot is basically running Vegas and would immediately appear out of the woodwork to offer “advice.” Every single companion hates him, but it would still take forever for Gio to stop listening and start distrusting his intentions.
Nigel
Nigel basically swaps places with Nathan in this AU, in that he left the Strip shortly after the White Gloves were given the Ultra-Luxe and ended up disgraced, down on his luck, and too ashamed to go home and face his family after feeling like he abandoned them. He ends up joining the Mojave Express because, like Gio, he’d find that he has to think on his feet a lot and that his ability to talk his way out of situations is his greatest strength. He spends as much time flattering people as he does threatening him.
The fact he sort of recognizes Benny because he kept up with Strip politics even when he was away would be REALLY INTERESTING because part of him smugly hoped that Benny would know who he is and was vaguely insulted when he didn’t. Because this Nigel never built his way up to a more important job, or ever managed to become someone recognizable, and that would sting a lot. Never mind that being so under Benny’s radar probably helped immensely when Nigel made his way back to the Strip to get revenge, it’s just another reminder that he’s incredibly forgettable and doesn’t have many people who think of him as someone worth caring about. A lot of his posturing and manipulating is him compensating for the fact he feels unlovable and unnoticeable without becoming someone that people have to listen to.
Most companions wouldn’t get along with him, but Lily does. Nigel can sympathize with her a lot over her feelings about her family. ED-E is pretty much the one he’s closest to, though. He completely despises Dean but enjoys trying to stay two steps ahead of him.
I’ve talked about this before but I want to take a minute to appreciate how good Beyond the Beef would be with Nigel oh my god. He puts off going home to the White Gloves as long as possible and always has an excuse to not announce to them that he’s the Courier that’s taken up residence in the Lucky 38 because he’s incredibly upset at the idea of having to face what he left behind. But he knows right away exactly what’s happening when he gets there and immediately sees a chance to put something right that would surely have upset his siblings if they knew it was going on. And it’s an excuse to reconnect with Morris, and it’s so good to have him back in his life and for once Nigel feels like he’s in his element and climbing the social ladder in ways he feels the most comfortable doing so and it feels good to wipe all the smugness off of Mortimer’s face and get the importance he never got to have before he left. It’s the first time since braving the Strip he actually feels like he’s come home.
Stabs every single faction in the back at the last minute and pushes for an independent Vegas because it feels great to have that power and maybe to make things better for others as an afterthought. Crushing the Legion feels good. Being important and maybe liked feels better.
Gautier
I don’t really see how this could work unless the timeline was shifted around so he met Trader before the Dam was an issue that needed settled. Maybe he grew up and instead of going into the family business decided sure, okay, I’ll be a courier instead once he hit his early twenties and then it all went pear-shaped.
Keeps a room in the 38 for Trader whenever he visits and generally makes sure he’s comfortable because it’s getting a little harder for him to make his usual routes as he gets older. Sometimes invites his dear old dad on quests with him.
Makes an absolute fucking point of cleaning up Freeside to the extent he can, even if it means having to go in the Fort more than he’d like. His doctor phobia improves a little once he’s older, but it never really completely goes away.
He has nightmares about the Sierra Madre and the Big MT for yeaaaaars afterward.
Tbh it’s less interesting to me to imagine Courier AU Gautier so much as original flavor Gautier after the events of New Vegas. Like, he ends up traveling with Trader and it’s really good for him? He knew two couriers, what would he be like in Layla or Charlie’s endgame situations? Layla especially went out of her way to give him an open place to stay if he ever needed it and both were close and tried to teach him things. I feel like he’d eventually open up to either one about the stuff he’s been through. He doesn’t exactly expect either of them to change things based on his experiences, but it doesn’t hurt that either of them care about him and might be inclined to pay special attention to cleaning up Freeside to make the place he grew up and still sometimes lives in a little bit better.
Vicente
Has a personal vendetta against the Legion from the start because his mom lived in Nipton. He makes every attempt to wide them out from the beginning.
The only blond doctor he’s gonna end up traveling with is Cyril because they’re basically married. ED-E is invited to hang out with them.
Goes independent as soon as possible because he doesn’t trust House, sees the NCR as overstretched and moving away from the few policies of theirs he could get behind, and again: completely despises the Legion more than words can say.
Pretty much takes one look at Joshua Graham and can appreciate his better half (by which I mean his ass), but is incredibly skeptical of him once he realizes who he was in the Legion.
Spends a lot of his time at the Fort trying to help the Followers and figure out what they need because they do good work and he knows that Cyril has a history with them. Veronica’s quest is really hard on him because he knows the news of what happened at the Followers’ outpost is going to crush Cyril, since that’s where Augusta worked out of.
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