#let new raiders learn to enjoy things about operations

[vespertine-legacy]

Unpopular opinion, but someone’s first ever run of Dxun should actually be done slow and steady, giving them time to listen to all of the dialogue cues and to see how the mechanics are supposed to work

[hastings727]

FFXIV will always have my love.

Ever since I first set foot on the internet some 20+ years ago, beyond all the games and random information websites, my favorite activities were chat rooms and social games. Anything that you played co-operatively or in Player versus Player were games I loved the most.

I was bullied alot as a child, and in an abusive household. So the internet was a way to learn about things, to experience things I'd never seen before. It was escapism. Even as I got older, that want for escapism remained. Games like Halo 3 and World of Warcraft were some of my favorites. Many hours were sunk into both, but WoW always held my love. Throughout all the terrible things that I dealt with in that game, I always have a soft spot for it. I can't go back, what with the shitty things Blizzard has done to it and the many negative experiences I had. I can't deny I'm sad though. My final main character, Lartou, will be some lines of code somewhere, just sitting there in a menu screen, waiting to be logged into.

...But this is about FF14, not World of Warcraft. I had tried FF14 about two separate times before it finally stuck with me. Once in Heavensward, where I got to the first dungeon and that was it, 2nd time was in Stormblood, where I got a bit through ARR before dropping again. And finally during the early-middle of Shadowbringers did it stick. My wife joined me, and together we went through every expansion, making it to Shadowbringers. Along the way we found a wonderful Free Company, The Forest Owls. A Pro PoC and LGBTQ+ safe space, ran by a trans Native American. As a LGBTQ Native American myself, I felt so comfortable. Through Shadowbringers we continued, and eventually my wife, who is more of a casual fan of games, finally lost interest and let me continue on my own. I was a bit sad, as we got married in-game and had spent alot of time together in it. But I persevered, beat ShB, and about a month before Endwalker dropped, cleared MSQ. And I was proud of myself! Even if, in reality, it hardly mattered that I beat it before the latest expansion: Content never truly goes out of style in FF14, what with level syncing. All that goes is the memories of when that content *was* the most recent content. Crafter and Gatherer jobs flitting to and fro to get the newest materials to create the latest armor, weapons, foods and potions to be bought by raiders for the latest boss content. Raiders jammed together on Tuesday mornings to fight those latest raid bosses, new strategies being posted left and right, twitch streams posted to see which raid team will clear the entire wing the quickest. The beauty of FFXIV is that this is the barest and most classic MMO taste of the game. There are so many ways to enjoy the endgame of this game, not of which is simply clearing the MSQ and taking a break. There's something wonderful about being able to say, "This is where my journey ends, until the next story update". It's so antithetical to what I think MMOs are about, but FF14 accommodates that. I have friends whos entire endgame was the Golden Saucer, basically an in-game Casino filled with mini games that award alternative currency to buy prizes. It also houses the card game, Triple Triad, Chocobo breeding and racing, and House of Vermillion, a strategy game involving the many minions you get on your travels in-game. Still other friends simply played dress-up via the glamour system. Fashion is nearly the most important aspect in FF14, to the point that entire websites and social medias were created just to showcase fantastic mixes of in-game clothing. Some even use their fashion to create elaborate role-playing scenarios. And not just fantasy role-playing, nope. Entire communities buying housing to create cafes, or bars, or nightclubs, all to mingle and role-play with other like-minded fans.

My own endgames were the classical ones: Raiding. Fighting the bosses with friends, and enjoying the story that comes with it. About a year ago to now, circumstances in my life changed and we couldn't pay for my subscription to the game. And so I said goodbye to my character for a while, and kept up with my FC via discord. up until about 3 days ago, when a login campaign dropped for 4 days to come back for free.

and so I came back, cleared all the relevant content. And here I am. At the end of Endwalker, the end of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark saga. I just finished the final Alliance raid quests, and to know that Oschon the Wanderer, my patron deity, could not bear to leave us, even to join his Ancient brethren in the lifestream, was so moving.

It makes me think about how all the content made between 1.0 and now was one giant story, and how its finally going to be moved on from. It's so emotional. I feel that same feeling I did when I first played WoW in 2007. "I wish I could experience this for the first time, again." Perhaps thats why myself and so many FF14 fans are so welcoming to new players. We all know what it was like to make our character, pick our first class, enter the gates of a new city and learn about this world. There are so many songs and sound effects that make me emotional, but so especially after finishing the last Alliance Raid, the songs in The Black Shroud will always stick with me the most. This regions was where I started with Revima, my character. This was where I got married, in the chapel in East Shroud. So much has happened, and will continue to happen.

Eventually, Revima will end up like Lartou, Selicius, and Revius, and the myriad of other MMO characters I've made over the years. Lines of code, sitting in a menu screen, waiting to be logged into.

I'll always have those fond memories of partying with friends, laughing and crying at the MSQ and all of the little side stories littered throughout the world.

In 3 days, I'll have to say goodbye again. Hopefully I can afford to play again soon, as it tears my heart up a bit to see it go.

Maybe its a bit overreactive. It is after all, a subscription based game. I pay $15 a month to enjoy it. But I can't deny that I have such an emotional connection to this game, to the people I play it with. I've made long lasting friendships thanks to this game, and even if I can't afford to play it, I'll always have the friends, and the memories.

[popculturebuffet]

Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers (DT17 Season 2 Retrospective): The Most Dangerous Game Night! (Paid for by WeirdKev27)

Welcome all you happy people! As some of you will recall I do a lot of duck based retrospectives on this blog: Ride of the Three Cablleros! which took a look at all the Cabs major American adventures, Shadow Into Light, my Weblena colored look at Lena Sabrewing’s journey from abused teenager to magical protector, and the Della arc which I dind’t give a cool name but covered since Shadow Into Light read right into it’s final chapter and ended up perfectly synching up with the final month of the series. And of course i’m still working my way through the life and times of Scrooge McDuck with a plan to finish the main story in September barring any delays, sickness that sorta thing.

So it shouldn’t be at all a shock that having covered all of season 3 when it came out and covered the two season 1 arcs i’d be taking a look at Season 2′s three story arcs. So I probably would’ve covered them anyway.. but Kev, one of my patreons and the guy who commissioned Shadow Into Light AND Ride of the Three Cablleros, had expressed interest in doing the Glomgold arc from season 2 as it centers around his favorite character, Zan Owlson. He also wanted to do Della’s arc in time for mothers day, and was all too happy to combine both, and politely agreed to my request to do the Louie arc as well. To help soften the blow, I also suggested since he’s a patreon of mine on patreon.com/popculturebuffet he use his second review (You get one guaranteed review a month with 5 and he’s a 10 dollar backer so he gets two, and he’s earmarked marked one for House of Mouse through the end of the year)  to help soften the blow a bit, which means some weeks i’ll be doubling up on this one. He agreed and it’s thanks to him that all of this happened so thanks bud. It’s also thanks to him I have money in the first place and I wouldn’t be here without him.

As for why I insisted on the Louie arc it wasn’t out of greed but out of pragmatism. I covered the Della arc purely on my own time, and gladly did so. But back then I also kept making the mistake of shoving retrospectives back again and again and again and that’s why there’s a rather nasty gap in my New X-Men retrospective I think severely harmed it , and a similar one for life and times which wounded it. I don’t mind taking smaller gaps of say a month when needed, but I learned from the experience I can’t just delay things constantly out of convince and expect it to work.

Not only that but the Lena and Della arcs only interact in the very last part. With these arc? While they don’t really touch at first and run parallel much like season 1′s arcs did, they start intersecting heavily as soon as Della gets back. Raiders of the Doomsday Vault! touches on both Della’s recent return and Glomgold’s bet with Scrooge, Happy Birthday Doofus Drake! has the A-Plot centered around Louie’s plot and the B-Plot centered around Della bonding with Huey as part of hers. And the final four is one one long, sustained arc, finishing up all three in the process. So yeah it was a package deal and as such this will be my third largest retrospective at 17 parts including the prologue. (As i’ll also be covering Della’s four issues in the IDW Comic released back in season 1). For the record my largest will be my Tom Lucitor Retrospective as 24 (in part due to doing the eclipsa arc for the same reasons as Dellas), and ride of the three cablleros at 20 is in a close second. This is going to be a long ride that will take most of summer, so buckle up, get your Louie Inc signs, Glomgold’ posters to jump through and black licorice gum ready and join me won’t you under the cut as we start this fantastic adventure together.

We open season 2 with all but one of our heroes proudly posing as they enter a temple. Scrooge even has his treasure of the lost lamp outfit on. Louie.. just looks tired and bored. One of the things I love about these reviews is that I haven’t watched most of the episodes since they first aired. Sure i’ve revisited some of my favorites like Dangerous Chemistry and the 87 Cent Solution,  but I haven’t really DONE a full died in wool episode by episode rewatch of the series. I’ve got SO MUCH I haven’t watched, haven’t rewatched and haven’t even started, that I really DON’T have the time for it outside of my job. So it is VERY nice to get a chance to do so once in a while with it.

As such knowing Louie’s real motive this episode it makes this scene hit diffrently. On first airing Ducktales was back after a short hiatus, our heroes are operating at full speed and daringly charting through a temple: Dewey and Webby have become tighter than ever and easily stop a pit trap and Scrooge and Huey easily solve an arrow puzzle. But while at first glance Louie is just fed up because as he puts it later “I’m just loveably lazy���, knowing he’s really just burnt out, scared he’s going to die or worse like he likely thinks his Mom did because he’s not good enough.. it’s really tearjerking. Here’s an 11 year old who at his core feels he doesn’t belong in his family and just wants a friggin break from the dangerous shit they do. It hits even harder as a fan of the venture bros but i’ll save that for later. Point is he’s telling Scrooge he’s burnt out.

So then this happens...

It really is almost the exact same joke, but diffrent enough since for one, Family Guy’s is driven by the refrenece (And god how I miss how their refrence humor used to have an actual purpose), where as here it’s to set up something else and hints for later: Louie having parsed how most adventures to at this point. While Scrooge is right in pointing out how every adventure is unique.. Louie’s not wrong that there is a small pattern to it: The Whoah! , The “Wait, What?” and the Aggggh!. Scrooge scoffs.. but Louie is proven correct as Dewey Whoas, a mechanisim trggers (Wait what?”) And everyone screams as they run from a giant wheel.

Back at home though it’s even more apparent poor Louie is miserable while his family is just jazzed. I can’t BLAME THEM, but I can’t blame him either for being, tired, worn out and just wanting ONE minute where they aren’t adventuering. There are some nice touches though as Scrooge runs off and finds a map in the idol: We see Duckworth removing the Scrooge as a Prospector painting based on Carl Bark’s painting of him from the foyer and instead replacing it with the painting of Scrooge, Donald and Della. It’s a nice little acknowledgment of how things have changed.. from Scrooge being alone and running from a painful past to having accepted it and gone back to being a family man. We also get Beakley just casually picking up Louie to vacum.

In the Triplet’s room.. which by the way why do they all share one room? In universe I mean, I mean is it saving on the power bill or does scrooge have the other rooms filled. Only four bedrooms are occupied: the boys, webby’s , Beakly’s (Which we never see but implicitly exists), and Scrooge’s himself. While the mansion isn’t LIMITLESS, it has to have more rooms than that. Is the rest just storage?

Out of universe though I do get why and i’ts why I let this concept of sharing a room when you have enough for everyone in the first place slide: it allows the boys to interact more easily outside of adventures by having all three in the same location. This episode is a good example of that as it kicks off Louie’s plan admirably: Louie is burnt out while Huey is excited.. and in another hint of Louie’s true gift he casually notices part of Dewey’s woodchuck uniform he was looking after is undone, simply making a quip about a sewing patch. He gets the idea for a scheme from there: to finally get his break by convincing Huey he’s slipping and exploiting his brother’s tendency for manic episodes.. which as someone with those I highly don’t approve and is far and away one of the more questionable things Louie’s done. And this is in an arc that includes him nearly wiping out all of existence.

Still it gets Huey on board but Scrooge and the wonder twins are a harder sell. Dewey and Webby are so jazzed on frinedship their even speaking in unions “This Needs to stop!” “I’ve tried but they really do enjoy harmonizing”

Louie insists the adventuring is driving them apart and making them less close.. and while Scrooge insits it brings them closer together  he ends up proving his point when Louie fakes not knowing which triplet is which.. and Scrooge GENUINELY struggles with which one’s Huey and Which ones Dewey. Dewey’s face is at the top of the page.. and utterly and completely priceless.

And while I thought it was the same impressive face from night on Kilmotor hill turns out, nerp their uniquely hilaroius

Same mood though. But I do love this callback: almost a YEAR later, and Scrooge STILL is like...

But while movie night and make your own pizza night, which i’m pleased as punch to find isn’t just something my family does, don’t do anything one thing does... GAME NIGHT. Cue a glorious minute of David Tennant goofily shouting Game Night to everyone in the mansion. Seriously getting him was one of the series masterstrokes. The man has only done a few roles in voicework but damn is he a natural. Not eveyrone can adapt to it this fast. While I love Walton Goggins, it clearly took him a few episodes of invincible to get really comfortable with it. It’s why I have such respect for Voice Actors in general: I’ts not an easy job, it takes a lot of skill, and it can be often thankless. It’s also why i’ve made a concentrated effort ot more know of them by voice simply because they’ve earned that much.

Anyways Beakly pops Louie’s bubble that htis is not going to be relaxing for a very obvious reason: Scrooge is relentless against his enmies and game night makes YOU the enemy. He quickly has them pair off into teams, taking Donald right off the bat.

We also get one of the best jokes in the entire series “If you loose your out of the will” “(Genuinely suprised) I was in the will?”

It’s almost entriely in Tony’s delivery there. The surprise is just perfectly delivered. It’s also oddly touching as despite a decade’s estrangement and Donald understandably thinking he wasn’t in it in anymore, Scrooge NEVER removed Donald from it . Sure he’s thretaning it over game night but he clearly takes this ungodly seriously. Duckworth leaves to go do ghost stuff.. which is code for make up a flimsy excuse to run the fuck away. To make matters worse she’s stuck with Launchpad as a partner. Louie is left with Huey and immieditly regrets sending his brother into a panicy spiral as he’s already set up a creepy scheduling board.

So i’m going to go ahead and cover the Webby and Dewey Plot, and the acompanying Donald and Scrooge antics now to save us some time. I’ll come back to it at the climax of Louie’s plot obviously and to the episodes credit the pacing is exceptional, weaving in and out of both plots , Louie struggling to keep the whole shrinking plot a secret and the rest of the families game night, excelently, it’s just with my brain i’ts harder to do that in a recap so...

Game Night: Crush Your Enmies and See Them Driven Before You Scrooge goes to the Conan of Sumeria/Melissa School of Game Nighting. Or in short...

Why HASN’T there been a Conan musical? So he and Donald dominate the first round, Charades, with Scrooge easily guessing almost EVERYHTING Donald mimes. As Webby puts it “When you’ve been around donald for 30 years you get good at non-verbal commuincation”. Granted they have a commuincation breakdown that results in this magic.

So Webby understandably assumes that given their best friends and Scrooge and Donald, while reconciled, hate each other, that they have an advantage. She is wrong. Not the first time: she also assumed she and Lena were just friends. It happens. you get a few wrong everyone does. Instead we get a great bit of Dewey utterly failing to guess it’s Scrooge despite Webby being obvious because Dewey’s brain is a riddle for the ages. 

Jenga dosen’t really go great for either so they go solo for SCROOGEPOLY. Because of COURSE Scrooge created monopoly in this version. I simletaniously love and hate how eveyr piece is a top hat. I love it because it’s a hilarously quick gag.. but also hate it because one of Monopoly’s biggest draws is having so many diffrent peices. I mean some like the sports car make sense but then you have a dog for some reason and an ironing board. I mean I love that dog, he’s a good boy but I don’t understand why he’s in this. If anyone knows the weird old timey reasoning for either of these let me know in the replies or my asks. 

This isn’t bad stuff mind, it’s just not really deep in stuff for me to make fun of. Apart from Donald ending up in jail... again. At least it’s not as bad as say goblin jail or that time he had to carve pinocchio’s nose into a shiv to surivive whale jail.

Louie: “How Long Before That’s Not Enough?”

Okay I kid, the subplot is good.. but that’s th epotatoes.. this is the potatoes iwth cheese.. look I love meat but potatoes don’t get enough love. They just don’t and you can do all kinds of delicious things to them. It’s why a good third of side dishes at most restaurants are potato based. 

But yeah rolling it back a bit Louie is confident that even with the  this will be mildly relaxing.. then Gyro bursts in thorugh the double doors proudly announcing his invention and pries himself in, ignoring Louie’s desperate attempts to shut him out.

 Gyro is.. different in this episode. He’s peppy and while he’s mildly condescnding to the Gyropludians, more no that in a second, he’s far more enthuastic and freindly to everyone else and less of the awkward ballbag he’d been last season and would be again this season.

This feels like an ATTEMPTED course correct. See a lot of people, if understandably didn’t like how Gyro was in season 1. Fan of the original him from the comics and show iddn’t like the nice, friendly weirdo suddenly being a sour, condesencindg weirdo. Me I was FINE with the change from unintentional mad scientist to intentional one... I just feel they overdid it on the asshole as season 1 went on. In The Great Dime Chase he’s fine, he’s egosticial, angry and kind of a pill.. but he also clearly cares for his creations, rightfully hates the board for constantly doubting him, and is frustrated his creations keep going rouge. It was a nice balance. 

The balance got thrown off entirely however once Fenton entered the scene. The crew just leaned WAY to hard into hwo much of a shitweasel he was to fenton: giving him an office in the bathroom with a cool quip, trying to beat him up (even if his rage over Fenton’s dumbassery was warranted that was not), and finally trying to take the gizmoduck armor back not out of any real concerns but because he’s worried he’ll loose his job... his job iwth the man who freely tolerates his creations going insane and really dosen’t care about his own colateral let alone Gyro’s. It came off as disngenous and that he simply didn’t trust FENTON with it and wanted and excuse to take the armor Fenton had clearly earned. He also pit manny and bulb against each other for a job which just felt out of character even for him to possibly fire one of his children which felt horribly out of character. Toniing this down was a good thing.. I just feel they overcorrected. They tried making him the 80′s version with a slight ego here, and when that didn’t work they just downplayed him for the rest of the season. He’s still around, in fact we’ll be seeing him again soon enough, and he still gets some great jokes... he’s just not really focused on at all. But they managed to fix their fix in season 3: they did have Gyro be a dick to Fenton again but gave proper context, had him apologize and framed it less as a funny joke and more as him being abusive because he was abused himself and breaking the cycle. He also kept the supporting role but kept the shadiness in it, with the earpiece bit from “Louie’s Eleven” being a highlight. 

Gyro has a new device that can pick up tiny sounds and has found a tiny civilization in the ducks house, dubbing them Gyropudlians because he apparnetly likes Gullivers Travels. I do not really know what that’s about, nor have I seen any of the movies. Not even the jack black one made on a dare to see if they could actually sell a movie on the concept “This old story but as a jack black comedy”. And it went horribly wrong because they actually did get it greenlit and someone out there actually watched it. Not me... and I watched the Wrong MIssy entirely of my own volition. I’m not immune from making eye staining mistakes. This just wasn’t one of them. 

Gyro ends up getting shrunk down because he naturally attached a shrink ray to it because...

So Louie shrugs it off correctly figuring out the arc of that sort of story: Gyro becomes a god, he learns a life lesson that sort of thing. Also I do applaud them for making the lost tribe not horribly racist.. that is a hard line to walk. They just make them generic instead which.. still better than racist. “Not Racist” isn’t a very high bar to clear but given this version went out of it’s way to be inclusive while the original show.. what’s a good metaphor for this.. hrmmm... these rakes are all the racism in the original show i’ve encoungered so far and probably will in the future, and i’m sideshow bob. 

Eventually though the Gyropudlians decide to decalre war on the giants because unknowingly the Ducks have been destroying their civilizations time and time again.. mostly louie but donald clearly peed a civiliztion to death..and i’m not grasping at straws there he left the bathroom and the other two possiblities for the floating city are too horrible to comprehend. Or it was just the sink and i’m a bastard... i’m probably a bastard.

So they blast the shrink ray around the kitchen and get Launchpad, so now he’s a part of this cliche. Beakly finds them.. is highly supscious, and Huey’s lie is.. not convincing... but this gets her out of game night with her overcompeitive boss so she takes the out and gets the fuck out and is not seen for the rest of the episode.. probably for several days. Look she does a lot around the house no one’s going to question if she comes back after a mysteirous absence with someone elses blood on her apron and several thousnd ddollars in brazilian cocaine. The sweetest cocaine of all. Scrooge is just used to it by now. 

Anyways things continue to escalate as The Gyropuldians, Launchpad and Gyro launch an assault on the tower of infinity, aka the jenga tower and knock it over. The Good news is launchpad surivives and we get a great bit of the brothers hugging then awkarly and half assedly explaning it to cover. the bad news is the Gyropudlians considered it an act of war and have trained some flies to man the microphone shrink ray dealie. 

It’s here we get the best scene of the episode: Huey is naturally worried.. even more so after he sees Louie’s response to the unfolding chaos: Curling up in a fetal position and rocking back in forth muttering to himself this was supposed to be a fun night in. Huey finally has had enough of this and wants to knwo wha tthe hell this is all about, shooting down Louie attempting to deflect it with his usual lazy schtick. Even at his laziest he’d pride self preservation over doing nothing. This is something worse. And while Huey is furious his rage is coming out of concern. While Huey prides himself on his brain... he has the biggest heart of the three. He’s the most empathetic and the one most willing to reach out to the others when they need him. Not that hte others lack it, Dewey was the one to welcome Webby into the group the most after all, it’s just Huey displays it the most. So his anger comes off entirely as genuine worry at Louie acting out of character and trying to avoid doing what eveyrone else does. And his response.. is heartbreaking...

“BECAUSE I’MMom was great at adventuring, and she still got hurt. I'm only good at talking my way out of it. How long before that's not enough? NOT GOOD AT IT OKAY?!” 

Bobby Monihan.. really dosen’t get enough credit for this show. When he gets to really do something big with Louie he goes for it and he uttelry dominates the scnee here. Danny Pudi is no slouch mind.. but Monihan REALLy gets to show what he can do. His reasoning for his worries is also just as well delivered and heartbreaking. 

“Mom was great at adventuring, and she still got hurt. I'm only good at talking my way out of it. How long before that's not enough?“

It just.. stings a lot. To find that Louie’s exaustion wasn’t out of self intrest.. but just out of fear. That he won’t be good enough at best and that he’ll end up like his mom: lost or dead never to be seen again as far as he figures. As a third of this arc will bear out, tha’ts not even remotely true, but out of the three Louie is the most pragmatic so while he says hurt.. he thinks she’s dead. And if she, someone as capable as scrooge or as close as someone whose not him can be, could end up dead... he’s living on borrowed time. 

This is where the Venture bros comparison really comes out to me... because they had a similar if more spread out storyline in season 5, with bookish brother Dean, Huey if he lacked autisim but gained 80 dozen more issues, found out he and his brother Hank, aka Dewey in his teens, were clones because his dad is really bad at keeping his sons alive because he’s also bad at everything else including science, parenting, being emotinally open, making a cocktail that isn’t a crime against nature, sex, and not treating hank like garbage, which should fall under shitty parenting but I love my empty headed boy.

So why bring this up? Well besides self indulgance because I love both shows iwth a signifgant portion of my heart and frank flat out admitted to being a venture bros fan, and having Beakly take some cues from Brock, I love the accidental parallels here: both are arcs about a boy adventuer coming to grips with their mortality. Both withdraw, both are heavily depressed and both feel there’s no real light at the end of the tunnel for htem anymore. 

And both.. are drawn out of it the same way.. by a concerned brother pulling them out of their misery and self doubt:

It’s the same here... Huey helps Louie through it, understanding how he feels.. and like Hank did for Dean, proving to Louie he’s not alone. He points out that yes Della did get hurt.. but it’s because she went in alone. He’s got his family.. they won’t let him get lost or die.. because their not alone. The reason they can do all this stuff is because their together. Their all amazing alone.. but together their unstoppable. And i’ts fine Louie’s afraid.. but he can’t let that fear kill everyone he cares about.

So our boys run upstairs, but are a second too late as the gyro pudlians shrink the other four down, and the duo’s attempt to grow them just makes one of the gyropudlians giant instead. With things at their grimmist.. Louie finds his TRUE talent, looks at the situation. and takes charge. In the span of two minutes he completely turns the tide: he has launchpad crash his way out, which he does by pure accident because of course he does he’s nature’s perfect Himbo. He next has Donald and scrooge take on some guards to give Dewey and Webby some room and has Huey take out the giant with his sewing. His final part is to have Dewey and Webby work their way up to the ray gun.. which is a probelma s both have lost all confidence due to realizing they have nothing in common and can’t fathom how their friends. Scrooge’s reply? Of course their not.. THEIR FAMILY. It was then that a thousand debbigail shippers cried out and were silenced... I know I was one of them. I couldn’t speak for about a minute. It was awful. 

And yeah.. I had been shipping Dewey and Webby up to this point, but it was becoming increasingly obvious they were being treated like brother and sister and then this happened. And in hindsight i’m glad I jumepd the hell off as they turne dout ot be blood related so I dodged a bullet there an found better ships for both. So no harm no F.O.W.L. clone accidental incest. 

Realizing this the two find their second wind and save the day. OUr heroes are restored and things are good.

The next day, Louie faces the music with Scrooge and is terrified, not helped by Scrooge being dead serious... but his worries are for naught. Scrooge instead only has one thing to say

“You saw all the angles”

Something the crew conciously did was have each of the kids mimic one of Scrooge’s tennants, something that was heavily implied before but made fully explicit here: Dewey is toughter than the toughies, Huey is Smarter than the smarties... and Louie is the oft forgotten Sharper than the sharpies. Scrooge even lampshades how that part of his motto is often left out. And of course as frank made clear post series, Webby made her way into the family Square. 

But back to the sharpie thing, I like this because it defines what that truly means, as it often comes off as similar to the smartie bit hence i’ts exclusion: It’s the ablitliyt to think quickly, strategize, a strategic, critical mind that can come up with a gambit in an instant and use everyone to the best of their abillity. It’s why for an example, Scott Summers is one of my faviorite x-men. Because while his eye laser things are impressive it’s this kind of cleverness and tactical insight, seeing all the pieces on the board and easily manuvering them, friend and foe, that makes him so awesome. And as scrooge muses it could make Louie even richer than he is. And in a truly touching gesture, Scrooge gives Louie the idol, confident in his Nephew’s potetial. His mother reached hers... he only needs time. So with that Louie’s arc truly begins and he hangs a shingle on the triplets door. Louie inc is born. 

Final Thoughts: This episode caught me by suprise: I remember it being decent.. but damn if it wasn’t amazing on the rewatch, with the knowledge of Louie’s weakness helping but really it’s just a funny, tightly paced half hour of television. It has great jokes, a great emtoinal arc and in general is jsut well.. great. I didn’t see this poteitial the first time because I was more hung up on fethry finally appearing, the cabs finally appearing.. all the things in the distance after this ep. But this ep is just damn good and I wish i’d put it on my best of list. Top shelf stuff.

Next time on Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers: The second arc starts up as FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD returns as an amensiac south african fisherman and it’s up to Webby and Louie to unravel his past to figure out why he’s acting like this and if this is another one of his insane schemes. We also meet Zan Owlson buisnesswoman of the year and person about to go through some undeserved shit at the hands of a stupid man.  Later Today: We return to Amity Park for more Danny Phantom and meet his second most intresting enemy as an innocent fuckup turns a spoiled brat into one of most dangerous enemies. Also PUPPIES and Tucker being the worst. 

Wednsday: We grab onto some more ducktales as Donald returns to Ducktales 87. And judging by the content warning so does racisim. 

If you liked this review stop my patreon RIGHT HERE. Seriously please do: you’ll find exclusive reviews, and if you join you’ll get acess to my discord, get to pick a short for my shortstravganzas, and help me reach my strech goals. And at my next one at 20, just 5 dollars away, ALL READERS will get a darkwing duck review a month and reivews of the two ducktales movie as well as the Danny Phantom TV Movie the ultimate enemy! 

See you at the next rainbow!

[lady-daydream]

Random Angsty Things About John Hancock - Fallout 4 Headcanons

He has a habit he was taught by one of the more elderly ghouls when he was younger in Diamond city. He was told to at least do three selfless acts a day. At the time he laughed it off, joking that if he did that he would end up with nothing. However, as time went on the comment stuck with him, and he realised that his initial reaction was almost a complete copy of his parents' rants and preaches about the people not in the stands. As his relationship decreased with his family, the more the ghouls messaged haunted him. When he started going to Goodneighbour was when he acted on this, starting with giving away chems to those who wanted to share the high. Or steal food from his family to even sharing safe ways to get by. Due to this he made friends pretty quickly, and these were the people that fought by him to get rid of Vic. Now that he is the Mayor of Goodneighbour he tries to do as many selfless deeds as he can without being too generous, from offering chems, food, shelter and protections. When he became mayor he travelled to one of the safe places he led the ghouls from Diamond city, however he found out that the elderly ghoul had been killed by raiders

When he was closer to the ghoul families in Diamond city than to his own family. They would take him in and let him stay with them when he would have fallen out with his family.  This helped him see ghouls as his equal and see them as the same as humans and made him stand out from the prejudice surrounding him in the stands.

He knew Nick Valentine when he first arrived in Goodneighbour. He didn't talk to Valentine at first, due to his family very much not wanting anyone of them to associate with him. Plus Valentine seemed to always find him when he was trying to sneak out of town or do something against the rules. Valentine did snitch to his parents and did take his chems from him or block up entrances to sneak out. In his mind Hancock knew that he meant well and was trying to protect him. However after hearing about the broken mask incident he was always unsettled with synths. Years later, they will be pleasant to each other but to each other as the troublemaker and the snitch. His views on synths however have lessened with him allowing the railroad to operate at Goodneighbour from time to time. 

He had a girl he was pretty serious with when he was younger, and before he had turned himself into a ghoul. He met her while he was sneaking out into the Goodneighbour. He wanted to marry her someday and even promised with a simple metal ring which he put on a necklace. People remembered them as inseparable trouble makers.  However after a few years of dating, Hancock's drug habit had started causing him to behave differently from how he normally acted and in her eyes become more unstable. So one day he woke up to find the necklace on a note with the simple message “Goodbye, I wish we could be more. But we won't. Don't come find me”. He went out to find her anyway. But couldn't. He keeps the ring on him, and he hasn't been able to have a stable and long running relationship since. When Fahrenheit arrived in Goodneighbour years later looking like his past lover with his eyes he had his suspicions. However it was never brought up between the two of them, and she mentioned a distaste for her family, saying Goodneighbour was her ‘new’ family which she would protect.

His relationship with his family had always been negative, with his brother being the one he trusted the most until he ran for mayor. As much as his brother pushed him around, they did used to have each other back, with the both of them getting into fights at the dugout for each other. His parents however always found a way to blame any trouble on him, seeing McDonough as  the golden child. Hancock was reminded of this regularly. So to run away from this, he started chems when he was 15.  Originally he just bought them from Diamond city sellers. But when his brother found out he was, his family stopped any seller from selling them to him. This started his journeys to Goodneighbour.

Due to being  a chem user for many years there are a few side effects that he suffered with before and after. Before he turned himself into a ghoul - His skin always seemed irritated, and he would constantly have scratch marks on arms, shoulders and his side. He was always slightly nauseous with food always tasting bitter and an iron taste always lingering. He also would have weak visible hallucinations. After his transformation, His skin became so callous that he doesn't feel it when someone touches his shoulder or would hold his hands. His visions became stronger to the top where he would sometimes see his old reflection in the mirrors around the old state house. There are no more there due to them being punched through or having something thrown at them. His senses also heightened with smells being stronger, noises loader, and even the smallest movements being easier to spot in his peripheral vision. He also suffers from paranoia so will always have some form of weapon near him and will engage in a hostile tone if he thinks a person wants to start a fight. 

Hancock is smarter than he lets on. He still reads, more to past time, or to ignore a hangover or the nauseous feeling of a low, and is pretty skilled at chess and anything to do with strategy. He enjoys cat and mouse games if he gets to control a fight and in general is a skilled leader when it comes to planning and coordinating people. He is just as good with his words if he thinks violence wont work and is quick enough to read a situation to know the mood before following through  However, he does like to learn new things when possible, and will try and learn skills  from the people of Goodneighbour if he can, disguise him learning with him stating him being bored and trying to ride a high commenting he might forget what they say the next day. He even knows how to work some of the machinery in the memory den, and perform medical aid to those who OD or get injured. Only few know how smart he actually is, with his charming and no fucks given personality a great disguise.

I'm sorry for the angst but idk why but honestly he is one of my fav companions fo4 wise next to Nick and Maccready.  I hope you guys enjoy the ideas though and comment if you have any more :) I apologise for spelling error, I am horrible at spell checking. If anyone has an imagines or reactions from fallout 3-4 or new Vegas just comment or send a request. Hope you all enjoy and have an amazing day -Love you all <3 

[yellowsugarwords]

Walking Dead Game FanFiction - “Let’s Ride”

Title: Let’s Ride Characters: Clementine, Gabe, Ava Summary: After Clem and Gabe convince Ava to take them on a supply run, the three come across a motorbike. Ava then teaches the two how to ride it. Author's Note: enjoy!!! Requested By: Anonymous support me with ko-fi ♡ ---------♥️♥️♥️----------

Gabe hated supply runs. But when Javier assigned him and Clem to do one together, he thought it was going to be slightly more bearable.

Only slightly. That was how much he hated them.

However, when Ava was the one assigned to take them, Gabe’s enjoyment dwindled right back down to zero.

Ava was a hard ass. It was the nicest way Gabe could think to describe her. She was strict, and firm, and never wavered from her position of wanting nothing but work to be done. No fun, no entertainment, her goal was survival and survival alone.

“Let’s get a move on.” She said, swatting the back of Gabe’s shoulder. He jumped at the contact, listening to Clementine chuckle as she brushed past him as well. He could feel his cheeks flare with colour, huffing and adjusting his hat before storming out of the front gates.

They all knew exactly where they were going. It was the place Javier and Kate had been talking about exploring for months; the abandoned storage shed an hours walk north of Richmond. Since the raiders had all but given up on Richmond, they felt as though they were safe enough to take to the area and loot it.

And today was that day.

As they walked, the three adjusted the empty bags they were to fill with supplies. Clem and Ava chatted for most of the walk with Gabe wandering up the rear. He had no information to offer to any of the things they were talking about. He rarely did.

By the time they reached the storage shed, Gabe couldn’t wait for them to get back home. He felt invisible and unneeded. Truthfully, he didn’t understand why he was expected to come at all.

“Okay,” Ava said, her body relaxing after bursting through the front door checking for threats. She found none. “Let’s split up and loot this place.”

Gabe withheld the urge to roll his eyes, but ventured deeper into the shed regardless. The shed was filled with crates, a majority of them dusty and had seemingly been untouched for a significant period of time. Cracking open one, Gabe scanned the contents, finding nothing of value.

Off to the side, as Clementine worked on brushing aside a cluster of boxes, she hesitated, eyes going wide. There was a gleam of red that glinted in the evening sunset, streaming in through one of the broken shack windows. “Woah,” she breathed.

“Holy shit.” Ava breathed, starting forward. She gawked, an amazed chuckle getting lodged in her throat. “My motorcycle!” She gawked, trying to keep her voice as muffled as possible. They were, after all, still in uncharted territory.

“Your motorcycle?” Gabe asked. He raised a brow and crossed his arms from across the room. “What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s mine!” She gawked, running her fingers over the dusty, glimmering red. “Raiders must have taken it after--” She cut herself off, clearing her throat awkwardly.

Clementine stepped in, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “How long did you have it before it went missing?” Clem was better than most at knowing when to, and when to not, prod someone for information. She knew Ava was hesitant with sharing her past, and figured a focus change was better than inadvertently forcing herself to hash out her history.

Ava’s gaze settled on Clementine’s for a moment, soft and thankful, before continuing. “Since the start of the apocalypse. I lost her a few years ago.” She knelt down, surveying every detail.

Gabe nervously glanced around the shack, peering out the busted windows. If they hung around for too long, they might attract unwanted attention.

“I can’t believe she’s still in this good of shape.”

“We can take her with us, right?” Clem asked.

Ava smiled, swiping a set of abandoned, dusty keys from off a nearby crate. “Hell yeah we are.”

Gabe felt an unspoken weight fall onto his chest. How long had the bike been sitting there? Was it safe? Was this a trap?

Clementine poked Gabe’s side, her smile gleaming from ear to ear. “Isn’t this amazing?” She said, scurrying after Ava as she rolled the bike out of the room.

Gabe stared after them, the weight in his chest shifting. Her joy and smile seemed to make everything worthwhile to him, even something as insane as stealing a motorbike with the scariest woman in Richmond, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong.

“I’ll teach you guys how to operate it.” Ava said, grinning ear to ear and snapping the keys into the ignition.

Ah. So that’s what his gut had been predicting.

“Is that a good idea?”

“Yes!” Clem gawked, hands clasped in front of her. Gabe didn’t think he’d ever seen Clementine so over the moon for anything.

Ava smirked, starting up the engine and stepping off. “You come give it a shot first.”

“Is that—”

“Okay!” Clem said, cutting Gabe off. She strode forward, hopping on the bike’s seat and turning to face her instructor.

“All you need to do is press down on that for gas,” Ava began, “that to break, and turn this to steer. It’s easy.”

“As riding a bike?”

Ava smirked. She found that she liked Clementine more and more each passing day. “Take it out for a spin.”

That Clementine did. Eagerly, she hit the gas, tightened her grip on the handles, and took off. She wavered at first, coming to terms with balance on the bike, but quickly became adjusted and drove in circles, weaving through the open field.

Gabe jumped, horrified at how loud the vehicle was. His chest tightened, watching the bike waver before Clem gained her balance. “Is this a good idea?” He yelled over the noise, glancing around.

Ava shrugged. “We won’t be here for long. Let’s have a little fun before we get out of here.”

Gabe hated that logic, although he knew she was only thinking that way thanks to her own excitement at finding her bike.

Clementine drove back toward the two, sliding the bike to a stop and laughing giddily. “Oh my God! That was amazing!”

“You’re a pro.” Ava said, patting Clementine’s shoulder and grinning. “Nice work.”

Gabe’s jaw was agape in horror. “How did you do that?”

Clem smirked. “I know how to drive a motorcycle.” She said with a shrug. Gabe raised a brow. “I was taught how to drive anything I can get my hands on.”

Gabe’s brow relaxed. He was insanely impressed despite being slightly terrified. Clementine really was an asset for them in Richmond.

He also found himself falling more and more for her each passing day, each time he learned of a new skill she had.

“Your turn Gabe.” Ava said, smirking and crossing her arms before her chest.

Gabe tensed, his gaze desperately flickering to Clementine hoping she would defend him. She just crossed her arms alongside Ava, her cheeky smile unmistakable. Gabe felt the pit in his stomach grow. “No no no, I can’t drive.”

“That’s why we’re gonna teach you.” Ava said. Her smirk was haunting, but that might have only been because Gabe was always on edge around her.

He wavered from foot to foot. “I don’t know.”

Clem smiled, dropping her crossed arms, her expression growing softer. “I’ll help. We won’t let anything bad happen.”

Gabe raised a brow. “Uhh--”

“I won’t let anything bad happen.” She continued. To that, Ava raised a brow, even though she knew it was a necessary clarification.

To that, Gabe eased. He did trust Clementine — at least far more than he trusted Ava — and maybe learning how to drive would be good for him. Maybe he could be seen, at least partially, as an asset too. If he could be worth even a fraction of the value Clementine was, he’d consider that a success.

“Fine.” He said, fists clenched in determination at his sides, his brain screaming about what a horrible idea it was but his heart convincing him that it was good. Maybe he could impress her. Maybe he could impress everyone.

Clem beamed, and Gabe could feel his heart waver as he started for the bike. She was so excited for him to give it a shot, how could he have said no?

His brain knew the answer to that. He could’ve said no easily.

The moment he sat down, he could feel his hands start to shake. He planted them on the handles to try to hide it. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Clem put a hand on his shoulder, smiling at the sweet way his gaze landed on hers. “It’s easier than it sounds. Once you start driving, you’ll get the hang of it.” She removed her hand, and felt the way the sweetness of his gaze wavered. “It just takes practice.”

Gabe stared at her, lingering for a beat longer than normal. Then, he took a shaky breath and tightened his grip on the handles. “Okay. I’ll give it a shot.”

Clementine beamed, and her smile alone felt like justification enough for his decision. She scurried beside Ava, her hands on her hips as she grinned ear to ear Gabe’s way.

Gabe closed his eyes, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. He tightened his grip, adjusted his feet on the petals, and sighed. “Here we go.” He whispered to himself. This was going to be okay. Clem wasn’t going to let anything bad happen, and it was his first go. They’d be patient. Things would be okay.

So, he hit the gas.

He attempted to steer, weaving and wobbling on the bike. He could tell the instant things started to go wrong, as his control of the wheels began to waver, the bike shaking and weaving out of control before spinning in a circle and hauling him out of his seat.

“Woah!” He cried, squeezing his eyes closed as he slammed into the dirt floor.

Clem gasped, her fingers lifting to brush against her lips. Her heart froze, watching as Gabe’s body limply rolled over. The bike crashed to the ground, the engine still humming despite being abandoned. Ava and Clem both held their breath, studying Gabe for signs of life.

Just as Clem was getting ready to run to his side, he groaned and rolled over. After weaseling away from the bike, he sighed. “You won’t let anything bad happen, huh?” He wheezed out, casting a daring gaze in the general direction of the two despite how far away he was.

Immediately, Ava burst into a fit of laughter, doubling over, her hands clamped over her face. Clem gave a sheepish smile his way, hugging her arms into her chest.

Maybe Gabe didn’t need to be an asset. Maybe being an asset was overrated. ---------♥️♥️♥️----------

[returnn-of-the-mac]

This is part 2 of this prompt asked by @thegamingduck88. There’s going to be one more part that’s going to take place several days later, when Sole has a prosthetic limb and has to learn how to walk again. No Codsworth, Ada, Strong, and Dogmeat to be found here. Thank you for your patience and please enjoy!

Part 1

Part 3

FO4 Companions React: Sole Losing Leg To a Mirelurk (Part 2)

Once they got Sole to shore, [companion] lay Sole down gently and investigated their injury. When they realized that an attempt to reattach the leg would be futile, they realized they would have to find another way to help Sole regain mobility.

MacCready:

“Well...this sucks. Leg reattachment isn’t going to work.” MacCready looked around and found a stick. He then used a plate, wonder glue, and a rope to make a stable peg leg for Sole, “Guess this junk wasn’t completely useless after all. Good call.”

Sole tried walking, but the leg kept sinking into the sand. MacCready put an arm around Sole and guided them to the raft they had taken to the island.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s something,” MacCready stated, “Practice makes perfect, right?”

Cait:

“Now what are we gonna do with ye?” Cait asked, her hands on her hips. “Yer helpless.“

An annoyed Sole tried to stand, but fell right back into the dirt.

Cait signed and held out her hand, which Sole graciously accepted.

“Look. I don’t know what where gonna do with ya, darlin. Ye can’t even stand on yer own two fe—er, one...foot. I can’t lug ye around like some kinda meat sack here, there, and everywhere.”

Sole stared sadly at their companion.

“Maybe we can find ye a doctor,” Cait suggested, “I don’t know how to help ye. I really don’t. But I’m going to try.”

Sole cracked a small smile, and Cait returned the gesture.

“There’re no doctors to be found on this island, so we havta go back to the mainland. We can come back once yer healthy again.”

The redhead scooped up Sole and placed them on a beached rowboat. She then hopped in and began paddling back to the Commonwealth.

Preston:

“I don’t think I can get that leg back on, General. I’m sorry,” Preston apologized, “But what you really need is medical attention. How about we get you to a doctor on the mainland.”

Sole sighed.

“We can come back when you’re better, don’t you worry about that,” Preston promised, “We just have to make sure you’re healthy. I think our best bet would probably be Greygarden. Those Mr. Handys and Ms. Nannys are adept at these kinds of things.”

Danse:

Danse sighed and gently helped Sole off their feet, putting an arm around them to stabilize them.

“The prognosis on your leg is bleak,” Danse began, “But I’ll take you to Cade and you‘ll be all right. He’s an expert at dealing with these injuries. It is not uncommon for our soldiers to lose limbs.”

Sole frowned at the news, and Danse sensed their disappointment.

“Proctor Ingram is missing a leg as well,” the Paladin reminded his companion, “And individuals don’t usually notice until she points it out. She has custom power armor and a high-quality prosthetic limb that was specially crafted for her. You will receive the same treatment, soldier. It’ll be alright.”

With that, Danse partially lifted Sole and leaned them against his body, helping them sit upright as he flared to a nearby Vertibird for help.

Hancock:

“That leg is in pretty rough shape, my friend,” Hancock admitted. He thought for a moment. “I mean all I can really do now is offer you some chems and bring you back to Goodneighbor to see Doctor Amari.”

Sole sighed.

“I know that’s not what you wanna hear, [brother/sister], but that’s the best option we’ve got. You don’t want that leg getting infected, do you? If that were to happen...that’s a whole cesspool of shit that you don’t wanna deal with. Trust me.”

Hancock wrapped an arm around Sole, helping them to their feet. He guided them to a beached rowboat.

“The good news is that we know where Spectacle Island is now, so we can always come back when you recover.”

Deacon:

“That leg isn’t coming back on, pal,” Deacon stated, “Sadly, humans aren’t as easy to put back together as Mr. Pumpkin Heads.”

He looked around, almost immediately spotting the beached rowboat.

“Leaving you here isn’t an option, obviously. It’s against the tiny print of our contract,” Deacon joked.

An unamused Sole squinted.

“Hey, hey! I’m only teasing! I wouldn’t even think of abandoning you here; I’m not a Brotherhood member, after all! We’re all bog dysfunctional family, right?”

Deacon helped Sole to their feet and guided them to the rowboat, “I’m going to bring you back to the HQ. Those guys know more than I do when it comes to this kinda medical mumbo-jumbo.”

Piper:

“Oh Blue you’re leg...it isn’t good,” Piper states, biting her lip, “I don’t think we’re gonna be able to save it.”

She mournfully looked at Sole, and then scanned the area for anything she could use to aid them.

“What you need is a doc, Blue. Someone with medical training. And that’s not me, sadly. We can probably use that little boat over there to get you back to Diamond City. Dr. Sun is good at what he does.”

Piper helped Sole to their feet and guided them to the rowboat. She struggled a bit before noticing a large stick on the ground.

“Blue, here. Why don’t you use this stick as a can and put some of your weight on it,” the reporter suggested, “I’m a journalist, not a body builder you know.”

Curie:

“Hmm. This is going to be...um...tricky,” Curie began, stroking her chin, “The salt water— or maybe the time it took for us to get to shore— made the leg near impossible to reattach. I sincerely apologize, [Madame/Monsieur].”

She sat in the sand, dumping all the contents of she and Sole’s bags on the ground. She picked around their combined inventory for nearly an hour, pulling out various odds and ends. When she was finished, she turned to Sole, purified water, Med-X, and stimpack in hand.

“I will be making a prosthetic limb out of what I was able to scavenge —giddyup butter cup legs, gears, other items— and I will be attaching it,” Curie gently held Sole’s hand, “I will use Stimpacks to help you through the process, and Med-X as anesthesia so you do not have to see or feel anything.”

Sole gulped and Curie giggled.

“No need to panic, had a been a human , I would have had the equivalent of a— PhD, is it? I would have been one of the most certified medical specialists in the Commonwealth. You are safe. Do not fret, [Madame/Monsieur].”

X6-88:

“You need professional medical assistance, [sir/ma’am],” X6 plainly stated, “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I’m going to transport you to the Institute.”

Sole frowned.

“[Sir/Ma’am], I don’t think you fully understand the magnitude of this situation. That injury is severe. If it were to get infected, you would die. No doubt about it,” the Courser continued, “The Institute has among the most certified medical professionals around. All operations are also undergone in a safe, sterile environment to minimize the risk of infection. Are you ready to go, [sir/ma’am]?”

Sole nodded and X6 approached them. He wrapped an arm around them helping them to their feet and teleported them to the Institute.

Nick:

“Sorry to break it to you pal, but I’m going to be frank: there is no way that leg is going back on. It’s just too risky.”

Sole fought back tears, frustrated by the news.

The detective sensed their anguish and sat down next to them. “Hey, don’t feel defeated, now,” he reassured, “Do you know how many times I’ve had to be repaired? And I think I’m still pretty damn good at what I do.”

Sole took a deep breath, slightly comforted by their companion’s support.

“Now let’s get you into that rowboat and back to the Commonwealth. Dr. Amari can probably fix you right up. We can come back and establish this settlement once you’re feeling better, alright?”

Sole nodded in agreement and Nick helped them to their feet. He put his arm around Sole’s waist and carefully guided them back to the boat.

Longfellow:

“Hm. That’s quite the leg injury you’ve got yourself there,” Longfellow commented, “Now, I’m not a medic. I don’t have the slightest clue how to even approach this operation. I’ll I know is that I need my magic water.”

Longfellow took a swing of his whiskey and offered some to Sole, “Might help ya hurt less.”

The old man thought for a moment. “I suppose we could get you to the Mariner via,” Longfellow sloppily pointed his whiskey in the direction of the tiny rowboat, “Her.”

Sole nodded and Longfellow helped them into the rowboat.

“All hands hoy! Yes? Very good; anchors aweigh!”

Gage:

“Boss I ain’t gotta clue how to reattach ya leg over here. Hell, I don’t even know anyone competent enough to even reattach that sucker.”

The raider picked up the leg and studied it. He grimaced, and tossed it into the water. Sole gasped.

“We ain’t gonna be needin that anymore. Mirelurk food,” Gage shrugged, “What? Just bein honest, boss. What’re we gonna do? Mount it?”

The raider approached his companion, picked them up, and slung them over his shoulder, “Whatcha need is not me bullshittin around tryna pop in a limb that ain’t gonna connect. Ya feel? Ya need the real deal. I’m sure ya got some fellas in at least one of your settlements that’s a bona fide Doc.”

Gage plopped Sole beside him in the middle of the rowboat and began paddling to the Commonwealth.

[shirtlesssammy]

14x16: Don’t Go in the Woods

Then:

Jack is FINE.

Now:

In a deserted rest stop at a park, two teens are enjoying some alone time in the back seat of their car. The girlfriend, Barbara, hears a noise that doesn’t seem like it came from nature. The boyfriend, Thomas, shrugs her off at first but then agrees to go check out the noise. He’s confronted by his sheriff father just as he opens the door. AWKWARD.

They fight about what he’s up to and Barbara heads to the bathrooms to give them some space. The bathroom is …the picture of perfection. She heads to the least disgusting stall. Once inside, she hears noises and sees a shadow in the room, and then a creepy monster hand curl itself around the top of the stall door.

Cue the screaming! Sheriff Dad rushes in to a now empty bathroom. He runs into the forest, briefly sees a Bigfoot-like creature in the shadows of the trees. Thomas cries out and the sheriff finds his son bereft over the dead body of Barbara. (Honestly, I thought we were only going to kill off white men for the rest of this show. This seems regressive.)

At the bunker, Sam is sitting alone in the dark kitchen. He’s clearly not doing well by pouring himself into finding another case to work. Dean wanders in and I enter a fugue state where I can’t remember what happens for the next couple of minutes. (I actually agree with this post 100%. Dean knows Sam’s state of mind. He’s always willing to fit that role that will help Sam feel better, more confident, and distract him with antics they both know aren’t real.)

Anyway, Sam has a case of missing people through the years in Iowa. Dean agrees, and Sam says he’ll grab Cas. Dean admits that Cas left earlier in the morning.

Dean also thinks that Jack should sit out hunting for now. He’s a bit of a wild card and it might be better to keep him close to home for a bit.

They find Jack in the library reading about zombies. Dean tasks him with restocking the bunker with beer and beer. (Um, I guess those driving lessons paid off. Now Jack can drive to the store alone and buy liquor he’s totally old enough to buy. Good parenting, Dean!)

Once in Iowa, at the sheriff’s station, the brothers are told the murder was actually a coyote attack, nothing more.

They still insist on viewing the body. They see the claw marks, and the burns around them, and know this isn’t a coyote attack.

Jack, meanwhile, is on his shopping excursion in Lebanon. It pains me how friggin’ cute he is. He’s awkwardly waiting for the store to reopen when Eliot, Max, and Stacy arrive. Eliot is garbed up in a cute brown and plaid jacket (such a hunter in training!) and watching videos of the Ghostfacers (what a blast from the past!) They notice “Bambi” just chillin and talk with him.

Eliot wants to know if Sam and Dean are ghost hunting, and Jack asks, “What’s a ghost?”, followed instantly with, “I have to go.” Boy, that line delivery was so perfect. In any event, Jack’s making friends, guys!

Jack and Eliot bond over reading about monsters. I just want to squish them, they’re so cute.

Also, how can Alex Calvert seem so young? Jesus, he does a good job playing baby Jack. We learn that the bunker has movie night every Tuesday, and that Dean really likes The Lost Boys. The kids learn that Jack is two, er, um, twenty-two. Whew, good save there, buddy! They still invite him to the abandoned house to hang out. Then they ask for ID to buy the beer (and I’m all like? Hello, you now have someone old enough to buy beer for you? What kind of narc kids are you?) Jack agrees to hang with his new friends.

At the sheriff’s office, Sam and Dean get free reign of the joint after hours (my how things have changed for them.) Sam thinks they’re dealing with a Kohonta, a local and ancient forest monster (in the great Northwest forests of Iowa —the X-Files often explored these forests as well.)

At the park a couple are hiking, in the dark.

They hear a weird whistling, and then see a figure in the trees. They call out to him. It’s the forest monster! All twigs and stomach acid! (And once more not a dead white guy in sight. Sigh. —I don’t know what I’m focused on this this week?)

At the crime scene, Dean and Sam interview the other hiker. She gives them a location on where to look. The sheriff arrives and wants to shut down operations. Dean insists that because they’re the feds, they can still search the forest. He tells them they can’t, and the brothers are totally going to follow those orders.

Jack shows up at the house laden with books from the bunker’s library. Jack! Did you fill out a borrowing slip for those? Jack wanders the room with his signature awkwardness. In the space of minutes, he reveals that he likes Dean’s music, has never heard of the SATs, and that demons are made of smoke and totally real.

The Local Teens ™ are intrigued by Jack’s purported hunting prowess and, encouraged, he brings them outside to demonstrate an angel blade. It goes poorly at first… Poor Jack. It’s hard to impress older kids.

In the woods, Sam and Dean hunt the kohunta. As they’re stalking through the woods, the Sheriff sneaks up behind Dean with his shotgun and orders them to drop their weapons. Yikes, but also mad props to the Sheriff for sneaking up on Dean. He doesn’t get the drop on them for long, though.

Cut to night… Jack’s apparently been trying to throw his blade all afternoon and the Local Teens ™ are bored. They goad Jack into defending his skills and he activates his newly restored nephilim power to finally hit the target. Hooray! Cool! Also, whatever.

Until…Jack uses his power to mind-mojo the blade back through the air and into his hand. Jack’s ecstatic about this, Eliot’s excited, and the two girls (who are clearly more sensible) are majorly weirded out. (Max is intrigued, at least.) Jack, encouraged by the sudden interest, levitates the blade in the air and then begins to swirl it around. It zips around in ever-increasing complex patterns. “I can control it,” Jack chirps while whipping the blade feet away from the teens, who are getting freaked out. Stacy tries to run and Jack’s blade cuts right into her, buried up to the hilt. Jack pulls out the blade and light glows from his hand as he tries to heal her. We’re left to wonder for just a moment if Jack failed…but Stacy sits up. She’s healed!

Jack moves towards them, encouraged by being able to heal Stacy and thinking he’s back in the teens�� good graces. They turn him away and Eliot orders Jack to stay away.

Dean and Sam talk to the Sheriff about the kohunta and we get a quick info dump on the MoTW. It’s an old tribal legend about the Parker family - some of the first white settlers in the area. One winter was particularly hard and the boy went crazy and ate the rest of the family. He developed a taste for people and started going after the people of the tribe. Instead of killing the crazed cannibal, they transformed him into the kohunta - a starving creature cursed to roam the woods and either eat people or slowly die of starvation. Legends being legends, this was forgotten and the woods they trapped him in were eventually invaded by interlopers a.k.a. tasty snacks.

Phew. Okay. Plot continues…. Sam and Dean totes kill monsters and they’re ready to help the Sheriff. The Sheriff asks them about going to YouTube to tell the world how to fight monsters but Sam’s against it.

The Sheriff’s son, Tom, interrupts their narrative wheel-spinning by calling and telling his father that he’s going after his girlfriend’s killer himself. The Winchesters and the Sheriff race to save him, silver blades at the ready (because it turns out that is what will kill them).

Tom reaches an old cabin, stalked by the monster, only to be attacked! It’s not looking good for Tom, who is about a second away from getting a giant acid lugey to the face. The Sheriff and Winchesters break in and they fight off the kohunta. One punchy kicky fight scene later and the monster gets a knife to the heart and dies. (Query: if this beast was around for long enough that the tribe forgot it existed, then how does cloth survive on its back? Magical curse blah blah, I guess.)

Tom’s alive. The Sheriff’s alive! Everybody wins. Sam and the Sheriff discuss the truth of the monster. Sam counsels him to tell the truth to his son; it’s the right thing to do.

Later, in the Impala of Feelings, Dean asks why Sam wanted to tell the truth. Lying’s the best way out of anything. Sam reminds him of lying to Jack…and all the times they lied to their dad about being “fine just to make him happy.”

Dean and Sam arrive back at the bunker. Jack got all the groceries except for the beer. (He only has fake IDs!) The Winchesters tell him they’re worried about Jack’s powers and they want him to not use them for a while. They’re telling him how they feel because they care. Feelings!

Jack mulls this over, and then fails to tell them about how terribly his powers just went wrong. Yeah. This is great. (Side note: he has learned one thing from Local Teens ™: subterfuge.)

Let’s Have a Quote Saber Fight!

Dean says that any music made after 1979 sucks ass

Well, there are standard hand to hand moves…like a light saber

Are you like a Jedi or something?

Whoa, that’s like full on Raiders!

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

[flannelshirtandjeans]

Oc interview meme

I was tagged by @radbeetle (thank you!!) and took this as an opportunity to talk through ghoul Norma in the future, interviewed by some future reporter for some paper or newsletter that's happening then. I'm stuck on mobile so super apologies for long and no cut! D:

I tag: (if you wanna do it) @johnandrasjaqobis @ceilingcow @keycchan

"We are sitting down today with one of the most pivotal figures of our Commonwealth's recent history, the mysterious but beloved by many, Norma Hawke, on the little porch of her home on Spectacle Island. She is serving a drink she claims to have coined, tarberry and mutfruit and just enough alcohol to have a punch."

How old are you?

Norma looks almost startled at the question. "You know," she tells me, "I have lost count. I was 32 when I came to... this Commonwealth, and had been frozen for more than 200 years. That was in... what year is it? Oh, and I turned into a ghoul before 40. That was decades and decades ago."

What do you look like? (For any readers who haven't seen you, or pictures.)

She laughs. "OLD, the way that us ghouls do. But I like to think I still got it!" She laughs again, and continues: "I'm a ghoul, unlike some stories say, and I don't have fins and gills like a fish. I'm just an old, short, round ghoul with some of my old hair left, still brown. Lipstick on every day, eyebrows drawn. I like it, it's routine."

Where are you from?

"The past. I'm a time traveler from a Vault - no, I'm originally from a different state (IDA HAS FORGOTTEN WHICH ONE), where I lived with my parents until I moved to Boston - here - to study law. Used to live in an apartment downtown, and then up in Sanctuary Hills with my husband and baby. Our old house is still there, I think. I... haven't been in a while."

Where do you live now?

She perks up, and a moment of quiet old sadness has passed without me realizing it was there initially. "Here on this island - I moved here when my wife here died and I started working more with the Minutemen to help build a government and a better Boston." She gets up and walks me around - shows me the single room cottage with its rag rugs and quilts, the garden swing, her little garden, and the fields, and her pride and joy, the apple tree. "I always wanted to be more of a country girl when I was younger" Norma says and pats the tree trunk. "I was such a city girl in truth, even when I thought I was getting there with my husband before the war, but I think I've gotten my wish now!"

What was your childhood like?

She snorts. "Rich in money but not in anything else. My parents... had me more because it was the thing to do and some kind of a status symbol, and not because they really wanted a child and to be a good caring family. Work came first. I grew up with a long list of tutors, and little love. Thankfully it mostly only made me want to be better than them."

What groups are you friendly with? Are you allied with any factions?

"I have worked a lot with the New Government of the Commonwealth, and the Minutemen that started building towards it. Not as much as I did, because I'm old and tired, and it's time to let them fly on their own instead of mother henning left and right there." She laughs. "I am still the highest lawmaster I suppose, but the law is working as well as it can without me too. Back in my day, when factions were more... at war with each other, I did work with the Minutemen and the Railroad, who joined forces to destroy the Institute."

Tell me about your best friend.

"There aren't a lot of people left who've been here as long as I have," Norma says, and that same quiet sadness creeps to her as before, but her smile remains. "Many have moved on, or died. But I am thankful for those who are still here. Sturges, who keeps the Castle running, and me too. He's like sunshine. We've seen each other less often of late, but try to meet at least every year on an important anniversary. To remember."

Do you have a family? Tell me about them!

She shakes her head. "No. I did, but they're gone. Husband, child, and wife. The child by my own hand." This child, as we know from history, was the Institute's leader, "Father". "His name was Shaun," Norma says. "I always found that whole title creepy."

What about a partner or partners?

"Gone as well - I don't have anyone now, and my heart is probably too frail to fall in love again, truthfully. Jay was my first husband, a big red-headed shepherd from Maine, the sweetest man I ever met. And then there was Ellie (editor's note: Ellie Perkins, author of such crime thrillers as "The Ghost of Goodneighbor") after the war, the wittiest most amazing woman-- and I buried them both. I've had... flings. Friends with benefits. But I don't think I can bury more partners." Who these friends with benefits are, she won't say.

Who are your enemies, and why?

"There are people who don't like the new government, and understandably blame me for it, me being the only one left was such s big part of establishing it. I don't think I have any real enemies though. Any that I had would be... also mostly dead."

Have you ever heard of The Brotherhood of Steel? What do you think about them?

"I steered mostly clear of them when I first came here. I have never been a big fan of such... military structures, and even less after seeing how much my husband hated his time with the army at the time. After joining forces with the Railroad, and knowing the Brotherhood's dislike of synths, the safest course was to avoid them, and try to keep them away. There were other tensions as well, with them and the Minutemen too. The Brotherhood's blimp was blown from the sky with their leaders at time shortly after the Institute explosion, and there's a lot of stories going around saying that was me too, but I didn't have anything to do with it, I was in too much shock from the Intitute alone to even think of something like that. But their leadership changed after that and now what's remained of the Brotherhood here needs to co-operate with the New Government, and has. I still don't like them much, but they're not causing too many problems, and have been... forced to readjust their thinking a little."

When asked about who she thinks was responsible for the blimp explosion, she only says "I have a pretty good idea", and refuses to elaborate.

What about The Enclave?

"I have heard of them, but don't know much about them, truth be told."

How do you feel about Super Mutants?

She shrugs. "Depends on the person, same as anyone else! I used to be afraid of them when all I'd seen was the groups that'd go around raiding and eating people, running around with mininukes - and feel sorry for them after learning about the FEV. But so much has happened since, and a lot of humans I saw at the time weren't really any different. Just smaller. Things are better now, at least some."

What’s the craziest fight you’ve ever been in?

Norma laughs. "Oh! I've been in so many fights! Hmm." She stops to think, looking across the water to where the blue Minuteman flag flies above the Castle. She laughs again and says: "never thought as a girl that I'd end up with so many war stories. But here's one: once in one of the old hospitals, there was a band of raiders that had trapped a deathclaw on the bottom floor and used it to stage cage fights. I'd... cleared the raiders - they had... taken over a Railroad base and killed the agents there, and I wasn't looking to avenge them as much as see qhat had happened, and had no intent to deal with the deathclaw... But my dog slipped into the pit, thankfully without alerting the deathclaw immediately, so off course I had to go after him. Ended up on top of some cages down there, knocked off BETWEEN them where the deathclaw couldn't reach me and wandered off deeped into the bottom floor... I was pretty sure I would die right there but me and my companion managed to JUST kill it before it got to any of us."

(I guess that answers the next question:) Have you ever fought a Deathclaw?

"I have! More if them than I care to count, truth be told - I've had to travel through the Glowing Sea more than once, and once fought a park full of mutation of them that had some alligator in them! I think... a deathclaw was one of the first things I fought after I woke up here, outside of bugs. Just in Concord, right outside Sanctuary Hills."

Do you like fighting?

"I don't. I may gladly tell stories of victories past because they make good stories and because some of those need to be remembered, and learned from so they don't happen again - but I don't want to sound like I enjoyed it, or wouldn't rather have solved the situation without a fight."

What’s your weapon of choice?

She grimaces. "Pistols. Sniper rifles. I'm not strong or dexterous beyond being able to sneak well, so I need the advantage of the distance. I used to hate the sniper rifles because I felt like I wasn't giving whoever I was aiming at a fair fighting chance, it felt... so impersonal. I don't know, I alway hate killing people anyway, it just came with some additional guilt."

How do you survive? Your wits, your charm, your skills, brute force, some combination? (a.k.a. what’s your S.P.E.C.I.A.L?)

Norma shakes her head. "Not brute strength for sure. I'm a lawyer still, even under all the things I've become since, and my first and foremost resort is always wits and charm, I think. It doesn't always work, obviously but I think... it has worked best for me so far."

Have you ever been in a vault? What do you think about them?

Norma shifts uncomfortably, and dips inside for a minute, coming back with an old frayed and battleworn vault suit with golden number 111 on the back. "That's why I'm here," she says, and for the first time sounds almost dark. "The vault 111 was supposed to be my new home when the bombs fell, but they froze us instead, and I've learned of many other horrifying experiments happening in other vaults as well. It's VILE. I still can't go into a vault without seeing my husband being shot in the head, and my baby being stolen. I hate it. I don't go into them anymore if I can help it. I'm glad that communities can flourish in them now, I know Sanctuary has built their winter home in 111, but there's too much trauma in them for me."

How do you beat all the radiation around here? Has it affected you?

Norma gestures at herself. "Obviously, I think -- turning into a ghoul was... awful, and painful, and disgusting, but I'm lucky to have had wonderful loving people around me at the time. I don't think I would be as happy in myself as I am now if it hadn't been for them. But even before I became a ghoul, radiation... did strange things to me, or I think it was the radiation? I didn't get skin reactions from swimming like everyone else, and eventually I started growing skin between my fingers, like webs?" She shows me her hands and spreads the toes on her bare feet to show me, and indeed she has some webbing there. "They took some damage from the ghoulification And then I found that I could breathe underwater. Some kind of a mutation, I think. The rads may have done their damage invisibly all that time though, all the swimming, the ghoulification came on so suddenly and without an apparent event that triggered it."

What’s your favorite wasteland critter?

"I am always a fan of cats - does that count? I am so relieved that they are still around. I got my first cat here from Ellie when I'd just turned into a ghoul, and I haven't been without since. If it DOESN'T count, I really like radstags, they're beautiful in their own way."

What's your least favorite wasteland critter?

"Bloodbugs. Bugs in general."

How do you feel about robots?

"Depends on the robot again! Some of them are really stuck in their old programming and are hard to interact with because of that, but others are great! Codsworth - bless his metal heart - tended to my roses for centuries while I was gone! He's like family to me."

How many caps do you have on you right now?

"I couldn't say, truth be told. I have some savings, but not as much as some people say I do. I get a comfortable living, but I would without caps, too. The Castle likes to send stuff over, they keep good care of their grandma ghoul."

Nuka Cola or Sunset Sarsaparilla?

Norma shrugs. "Usually don't drink them! Nuka Cola is noce for marinades."

Do you do chems?

"As a habit, no. Sometimes for aches, and sometimes if I need a stim. But I've never really been much to use them beyond just that."

Do you ever think about the Pre-War world?

Norma nods, and is quiet for a moment. "I don't... think that a day goes by without me thinking of that time. There's just... sovmany convenience items that I end up missing, or animals, or people. I don't tend to dwell, not anymore, it's past and won't change what is now, and I'll only hurt if I think about it too much. These days it's easier though, mostly nostalgia. I have found a good life here."

What’s your deepest regret? What would you do differently?

"I--" Norma falters and for the first time she looks truly fragile. "I wish... I regret that I couldn't be a mother to my son. That was entirely out of my hands, but I do regret it." She wipes away a tear and tries a laugh. "There are so many things I wish I'd done differently with him here, and keep wondering if I could have reached him somehow... If this could have gone differently. I don't know. I try to not wallow to much on what could have been done differently. It's too late to change that now."

What’s your biggest achievement?

Or what do you hope to achieve?

She wipes away her tears. "Ahh, this is easier. I'm... The Commonwealth now? I'm proud that I've been a part of building it towards a much safer and more prosperous place to live. But most of ask, I think? I'm proud of the library. That's something that me an Ellie built together, it was... like a proof of concept for everything bigger, I suppose. And it's still a lovely, lively place now, growing every day."

What do you want for the future? For yourself? Your friends? The world?

"I want the Commonwealth to keep building. I want safety, and comfort, and sustainability. I want more connections elsewhere. And I want to know it can do that without me - I don't plan to go just yet, but I'm old and tired, and I will not be here forever. I want to be just some grandma, and let the world sort itself out. I've earned my rest, I think. And you know, I think it will happen, too. I think it will."

[quinzelade]

Making One’s Bones (chpt 6)

Chapter List

--

Porter Gage is in a pickle. Nuka-World needed a new boss and some woman just killed her way to the top. But a pre-war Mafia boss on the theme park's throne? Well...at least she'll have experience.

--

History Lessons

--

The night in the Primate House was a long and uncomfortable one. Gage shifted in his spot on the floor, slowly became aware of a damp spreading through the seat of his pants, and made a noise of disgust. He'd been trying to put off his next wash for a few more months, and didn't want ape shit speeding up the process, but what could he do—sleep standing up? The whole place was covered in muck. Still, it was worth a shot, and so Gage got to his feet, testing the ground for a less soggy place to sit. Bossanova watched him silently from her own corner. Perhaps she'd noticed his pants sticking to the back of his legs.

The ghoulrillas were snoring all around him, Cito snoring loudest of all. He exclaimed loudly when he'd realised his little nest had been disturbed, but thankfully decided it must have been 'one of the monsters' sneaking in and disrupting his things without trying to eat any of his family in the process. Gage was happy to let him think that. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of Cito's piece of pipe.

As the combined rumblings of the sleeping idiots filled the air, Gage considered their new enemies. The gatorclaws were no laughing matter. He'd fought one or two deathclaws in his time, each battle a close call. But a park full of them? Not to mention the gatorclaws seemed even more vicious than their horned cousins.

Gage shifted around a little, noting with some relief his pants had dried off a bit. Not only that, but this spot near Bossanova seemed a little less damp than where he'd been before. Gage dropped down with a soft flump and watched a ghoulrilla scratch its ass in its sleep. The boss had been playing on his mind all night. Not the way she'd held a knife to his throat—he'd deserved that, he knew it—no, what bothered him more was their first gatorclaw fight, when she'd saved his life by pushing him out of the way.

Raiders, he understood. Kill or be killed. Loyalty only carried you as far as where the next meal came from, and if shit got bad, you took care of yourself first. Gage knew this. The only certainty about a raider was the fact they would turn on you.

Gage stared down the enclosure, watching Bossanova. He could see the glint of her eyes in the darkness, could just make out her hand resting on her sword, which she'd finally stopped trying to straighten out.

The stupid woman hadn't even hesitated.

"Boss…?"

"Yeah?"

Several seconds passed before he realised he'd spoken. Bossanova was sitting up straighter now, her head turned to him. He looked away from her, his heart quickening. When the gatorclaw grabbed her, he could have turned tail. Left Nuka World forever. He wanted the park working more than anything, but the situation was fucked long before Bossanova arrived. It wasn't worth his life. If Cito hadn't caved the thing's head in, he'd have died there and then. It shouldn't have got to that point. Gage knew when to cut and run.

So why hadn't he?

"Gage?" Bossanova tilted her head to the side. "Is everything okay?"

"Why the fuck do you care?" Gage snapped. He regretted it instantly. He sounded like a kid. He quickly changed tack. "Just...about Colter," he lied, finally looking up again. "You mentioned him back in the Welcome Center. It's...I can tell it's gonna be a sore spot."

"Maybe. Depends if there'll be a repeat performance." She gave him a wry smile just visible in the dim light. "Feeling guilty?"

"No, ain't no guilt over that call. Colter was a piece of shit. I've been real clear with you."

She glanced up at the ceiling, now concealed by darkness, and then dug into her pocket, producing a small candle and a packet of matches. She lit one of the matches, the surrounding ghoulrillas stirring in their sleep, and cleared a circle in the grime and straw, setting down the candle. She put the match to the wick, and the room filled with warm, flickering light.

Bossanova blew out the match. Then she drew her knees to her chest, rested her chin on them, and said. "How do you know I'm better?"

"I don't," Gage said, frowning at her. "But I ain't got a choice. After Colter, I'm livin' on borrowed time."

"Smart man like you, you should have seen him for what he was."

"Hey, I don't know what it was like in your time," Gage snapped, sitting up straight and glaring at her, "but out here, Colter had the qualities that mattered." She'd hit a nerve, and goddamn if he didn't know it. "He was big, strong, and didn't take no shit. So I talked him into being overboss, thinkin' he'd listen to me, let me help him. I thought...I thought I'd be able to keep him in line. But..."

Bossanova's expression shifted into something painful. Her voice sounded strained as she said, "It went to his head?"

Gage tried to reply, but the words caught in his throat. He settled for a single nod. She knew. She knew.

Bossanova gazed past him, her expression distant. "People like Colter... you trust to do as you ask, as they're expected." Her tone grew harder with every syllable. "But greed, power, drugs—it twists them, strips them of the person you knew, until all you're left with is a shell. A shell you have to put down yourself…" She breathed heavily through her nose cavity. "Because you created them."

Ringing silence followed. Gage was at a loss for words. Eventually, he managed a weak, "Shit, boss."

Bossanova shook her head, still not looking at him. "I know how gangs work. I know how they end. And I know why you're making me the target instead." Their eyes met. "I'm fine with that."

Gage wanted to know more, but something in her stricken expression told him it was a bad idea. She hadn't meant to say it. He swallowed, dragging the subject back into familiar grounds. "You ain't like Colter. That's what I'm getting at. You ain't like the other raiders I've run with. This place is about to go off like a goddamn grenade, but so long as you don't pull another stupid stunt like you did with Mags, we could make this work." Gage hesitated, aware he was getting a bit too sentimental. But the fact they were even in Safari Adventure at all spoke volumes. He swallowed his pride and charged on. "You've got the smarts and the drive to make a pretty damn good overboss."

Bossanova snorted with laughter. "I've barely done anything yet."

"More than Colter."

"God, he's made your expectations low."

It was Gage's turn to laugh. "I'm just saying, I'm...I'm starting to be glad we teamed up, is all."

The odd thing was, despite their earlier fight, he wasn't lying. Gage sat in stunned silence, his brain blank. Where the hell had that come from?

Bossanova didn't seem to notice his sudden apprehension, because she smiled broadly and settled back in her corner. After a moment, Gage did the same. As soon as her eyes shut, he scowled. Yeah, he was impressed with the way she'd taken charge, and she clearly knew what she was doing. But he couldn't quite wrap his head around what was bothering him.

It kept coming back to the fight. How Bossanova pushed him aside, took the blow instead. And how he, Gage, then followed her example.

She's no raider.

The realisation hit him like a gut punch. Bossanova didn't do things the raider way. She didn't just slit his throat when he overstepped his bounds, or abandon him in a sticky situation to save her own neck. She kept him for his usefulness, yes, but seemed to enjoy his company as well. Why else would she be making fucking breakfast in the morning for him?

But whatever she was doing, it was working. He'd never thrown himself at a deathclaw—Gatorclaw, Bossanova's voice corrected inside his head—for anyone before. Gage's scowl deepened as he remembered the talk she'd given him about trust the previous night, a strange anger bubbling away in the pit of his stomach.

She's no raider, Gage thought bitterly. But then he paused, his agitation calming down to a simmer. Was that really a bad thing?

For the first time in years, his thoughts drifted back to Connor.

Connor, who relied on him for advice. Connor, who said he trusted him—that he, Gage, was an important part of the gang. Connor, who took what he needed and then tried to kill him.

A raider through and through, and Gage had learned the lesson well. Never trust, never linger if shit hit the fan. And if Bossanova didn't play by the raider rules, both she and Gage were in for a world of trouble.

Maybe she was more raider than he realised; trying to lull him into a false sense of security, make him weak and complacent. Just like a slaver, before they snapped the collar on. Well, she was in for a nasty surprise if that was the case.

But...why risk her life just to trick me?

Gage massaged his forehead with his knuckles and decided to shelve the worries for now. There was nothing he could do about it here, surrounded by gatorclaws and ghoulrillas and the idiot Cito. Get the job done, go back to Nuka World, reassess. He'd used up all his chances with the other gang leaders—there was no way he could bring in another overboss now. But maybe he could still leave, before Bossanova ran him or the entire operation into the ground.

Sighing, he shut his eyes, hoping the morning brought a better day.

--

It did not.

Gage spat out a mouthful of blood as he staggered to his feet. A tremendous roar echoed from the dizzying heights of the Angry Anaconda track above, and he glanced up in time to see the snapping jaws of the gatorclaw miss Bossanova's heels by inches.

She lost her footing, and for one heartstopping moment Gage thought she would fall. But Bossanova clung on, scrabbling up again and ducking to avoid the beast's claws. He wondered whether he could shoot it without hitting her, but as Gage stepped forward, his head spun and he struggled to stay standing. The sixth gatorclaw fight was taking its toll.

Bossanova climbed higher and higher, every slip of her hands and feet sending a jolt of panic through him. She reached the peak, a wide chasm of collapsed track, and edged back, her arms flailing. The overgrown lizard pulled itself up, causing the whole structure and Bossanova to wobble dangerously.

The gatorclaw stared at her as it struggled to stay on the narrow rails, its huge, clawed feet sliding around, rattling everything further. Gage could hear its low, guttural growls all the way from the ground, and held his breath as he watched the teetering standoff.

The gatorclaw lunged.

Bossanova dropped through a gap in the track, catching hold of a bar at the last second. The gatorclaw barrelled on, throwing itself into open air and plummeting, while Bossanova held on with one hand. It seemed to take an age to fall, its muscular limbs flailing as a long, shrieking howl escaped its terrible jaws, before hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Bossanova dangled precariously over the drop by one hand, swiping up to the rails fruitlessly with the other.

Gage swore, setting off at an unsteady run. Would he be able to reach her in time?

Two figures streaked past him before he'd taken more than two steps; Cito and Chris the ghoulrilla leapt onto the metal structure, climbing with fluid ease. By the time Gage put his foot on the first rung, the ghoulrilla scooped Bossanova under one arm and swung casually back down. As Cito followed, Bossanova was dumped unceremoniously at Gage's feet.

"You alright, boss?" he said, ignoring both his racing heart and her two idiotic saviours.

"Fine," wheezed Bossanova, massaging her chest and standing up. She looked paler than usual, a slight tremble to her hands. But then she shot him a mischievous grin. "Still looking out for me?"

Gage scowled and turned away, his cheeks hot. Fuck her then. He stomped off, making sure she knew his displeasure, before stopping at the gatorclaw. It was impaled on some old pieces of track sticking out of the ground, its yellow eyes blank and unseeing.

He kicked the dead beast fiercely with his foot. How many more of these things would they have to fight?

Gage forced his attention to the Angry Anaconda. Somewhere in this mess of metal and dead greenery was the password for the Welcome Center—their only chance of dragging this hellhole under raider control.

He paused, wondering what would have happened if Cito and his 'family' hadn't been with them. Gage shivered, thinking of Nisha's well-used knives. He stole a glance at Bossanova when he was certain she wasn't looking, and then at Cito and the ghoulrilla. He would have killed them to make sure the park was clear for the gang. Bossanova talked them round instead.

Maybe Old World tricks had their place after all.

"Boss," Gage said, suddenly reminded of their first meet with the Blacks. "What was that shit you were talking about with Mags?" Bossanova paused, looking up from the decaying roller coaster cart she'd been sifting through. Gage took this as a sign to continue. "You said 'Cozy Nose...Tra.' And then 'mafia.' The first bit I don't get, but the second—"

He broke off as she erupted into a fit of giggles.

"What?" he snarled, nettled.

Bossanova shook her head, still laughing. "Cosa Nostra was an Old World Italian phrase adopted by the American Mafia. It roughly translates to, 'our thing.'"

She might as well have been speaking another language for all the sense this made to Gage. Or maybe she was? He stared at her, and she smiled.

"You want a history lesson?"

"Well…" Gage frowned at a dirty old skeleton on the floor. He was interested, despite himself. "Fuck it. Sure. It'll pass the time."

Bossanova nudged an upturned trash can with her foot as she unsheathed her sword, fussing over the bend in the blade again. Cito and the ghoulrilla licked each others wounds, apparently disinterested in the conversation. After a moment, Gage kicked aside an old skull and picking his way through the skeleton, deciding he might as well keep looking for the stupid passcode while she talked.

"What do you know about the Mafia?" she asked, not looking up from her sword.

"As far as I know, they were some pre-war gang who rolled in caps and did whatever the fuck they wanted." Gage stared off into the distance, lost in visions of wealth, luxury, and power. The raiders talked about them like the religious talked about Atom. He was brought back to earth by a loud sniffing in his ear. Cito was picking bugs out of Gage's hair and eating them. "Fuck off, Loincloth!"

Bossanova looked up as Gage waved Cito away with a hiss, and laughed again.

"You're right," Bossanova said, returning to her weapon, "for the most part. They had wealth and power, but they still had to navigate around the law, like I said. And they were mired with toxic tradition—only allowing Italian men into their ranks for most of their existence. By the time I joined, they realised they needed change to survive. In the end, if you could prove you had Italian heritage, it was irrelevant what was between your legs."

Gage frowned. Why would that matter to begin with? So long as you were good at killing, raiders didn't give a shit.

Bossanova gave a knowing smile at Gage's confusion, which must have shown on his face, and went on. "But non-Italians were still taboo. My attempts to bring the Irish Mob under mafia control were disastrous, and as a result I...retired. Organised crime floundered in the years after my departure. Only had a resurgence when the bombs fell."

Gage frowned. "You make it sound like you were old."

"I was old. Had my pension when the world ended, much to the annoyance of the cops. Being a ghoul does wonders for creaky joints."

Gage wasn't sure what 'cops' or a 'pension' were, nevermind whether he believed her claims or not. He decided it didn't matter.

"The Mafia was weak after I left. Turns out letting the Irish Mob butcher your leaders doesn't do much for keeping your hold on the city," she said bitterly. "Eddie Winters carved his way to the top of the Mob and put a puppet in my place. I changed my name and moved to the suburbs. Made friends. Kept my sword collection sharpened, just in case. By the time Raymond Patriarca got things back under control, the bombs dropped."

Bossanova shivered, her black eyes staring off into the distance, and for a moment it looked like her mind had been transported far away, swallowed by the horrors of her past. "I'll...I'll never forget it. The sky choked with dust and debris and radiation. I was miles from the epicentre, but I still felt my skin bubble and peel away. My neighbours melted in front of me. And the pain…"

She went quiet, gripping tightly at her sword. "Buildings were crumbling at random, people trapped beneath the rubble. Craters in the sidewalks. Bodies everywhere. The city reeked of the dead, and the living…" Bossanova motioned to her own face. "Most looked like me before they passed. Rotting from the inside out. I took refuge in a burnt out building. Too hurt to do much else, really."

Gage paused, his hand half in the pocket of the ragged remains of the clothes still clinging to the skeleton, listening intently. He'd never been one for the past. It was old and dead, and no use to anyone except scavenging. But this was...different.

"Old Ray became a ghoul, along with a good chunk of the family and the Irish Mob. Winters was nowhere to be seen, so the family took back its city." Bossanova smiled, holding the sword loose by her side. "They brought order to the apocalypse."

"Wait, what?"

Bossanova nodded. "Ray kept the chems out, and set to work on food, water, and the injured. People flocked for miles when they heard, all bending the knee to the wasteland's first godfather. Even the remnants of the police fell into line when it became obvious the military wasn't coming back."

"And where were you?"

"Kept out the way so I wouldn't waste their precious resources. Every day, lying in a burnt out building, waiting for the pain to just kill me, or the ceiling to collapse on me in my sleep. Every day I waited, and every day it never came." Bossanova bowed her head. When she looked up again, her gaze was sharp. "I got over myself quickly. Stopped being so pathetic—"

Glad we agree, Gage thought.

"—and went to see what I could do. If there was a price on my head, I'd make them remember who I was, and what happened to those who crossed me. I was reborn. But..."

Gage snorted. Always with the 'but.' "Lemmie guess—the guys with the guns weren't scared of a sword?"

Bossanova tilted her head and gave a strange smile. "You'd be surprised how many people hesitate when you run at them screaming and swinging a sharp bit of metal around. But no. By the time I'd pulled myself together, everything had fallen apart."

"Even by raider standards, that's impressive."

"Well, not everyone in the city was a ghoul. And those lucky enough not to be a walking corpse began to…grow suspicious of us. Didn't help that the first cases of ferals were cropping up. Ray was assassinated. Any ghouls not quick on the uptake followed him. The lucky ones went into hiding near the foundations of Goodneighbor. Today they are the Triggermen."

"No shit?" Gage mulled this information over in his head. He'd never really thought about where the Triggermen had come from before. He knew they were separate to the other ghouls in Goodneighbor, but…

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Bossanova went on with her tale.

"Frank Salemme was the one who whacked Ray," she said darkly, her expression sour. "He was nasty, even by Mafia standards. A pain to deal with in my day—making everything bloody, messy—bringing down the heat through his carelessness. He took over after he murdered Ray, and that's when things really went south.

"Frank decided the old ways weren't good enough anymore. If you wanted to be a made man, you played by his rules."

"What's a made—?"

"Mafioso. One of the family." Bossanova glanced over at Cito and the ghoulrilla, the former of which was stuck from the waist upwards inside a park trashcan. "Used to be you just took someone—almost anyone—out. Simple. Effective. Stopped the cops sneaking in, like Donnie Brasco near did. But this wasn't good enough for Salemme, oh no. Making one's bones was pointless in the new world. Anyone who wanted in had to kill a ghoul, and they had to bring proof. And if you weren't in Selemme's gang, you didn't get food or water or nothing."

"Smart," replied Gage without thinking. He shot Bossanova a sharp look, wondering how she would react, but she nodded thoughtfully instead.

"Yeah, it was smart. Made me prey for a while, though. Or so they thought. I hunted them down instead—slit some throats, skewered the rest, depending on who they were." Bossanova grinned. "Kept me on my toes and got me back into shape. In the end, Salemme was running on borrowed time anyway."

"Killed by a ghoul?"

"Killed by one of his own." Bossanova's grin widened. "Radiation gets everyone eventually. He rotted, and when his skin peeled away and his eyes blackened and his fingernails fell out—when he stood there, rasping like the rest of the ghouls—someone put a bullet in his head."

Gage snorted. "I'm sure that went down well."

"Naturally," Bossanova said with a mirthless laugh. "They'd had the power to keep things in order and they messed it up. Soon as they killed Ray, the city was doomed." She stretched her arms, and then turned her sword over in her hands. "Once Salemme got what was coming to him, the in-fighting began.

"New leaders declared every other day, food becoming scarce, and the water so irradiated people were dropping dead or turning to ghouls left, right, and centre. Finally, it all collapsed. The survivors splintered off into factions and began attacking anyone who crossed their paths." Bossanova paused, her gaze boring into Gage. "They were the first raiders."

Gage stared back, lost for words. Eventually he managed, "Raiders?" Bossanova nodded, and he hesitated before saying, "Raiders came from the Mafia?"

She nodded again.

"Well shit."

Bossanova burst out laughing. "Profound as ever, I see."

Gage grinned and shrugged. "What you want me to say? Ain't never expected raiders to have grand beginnings. I thought people were just good at being shitty to each other."

Bossanova shook her head. "That's all the Mafia has ever been." There was a moment's silence, then she strolled away.

Gage remained where he was, thinking. He watched Bossanova approach a rusting trailer and begin rattling the locked door. Gage had never thought about the origins of raiders before, and in all honesty, he'd never really cared. History wouldn't keep him alive. But when Bossanova spoke, he'd found himself enthralled. There was something about her that compelled him to listen.

Picking through the clothes again, he contemplated the power of her charisma when she'd had a nose.

A bang made Gage look up. Bossanova had apparently kicked the trailer, judging by the large dent in the door, and a bag had fallen off the roof. The contents were scattered all over the ground. She crouched down, picking through the debris, and then held up a small, silver something.

Gage got to his feet and drew closer. It was a key. Bossanova turned back to the trailer and tried the lock—the door swung open with a horrible, drawn out metallic scrape that set Gage's teeth on edge. Apparently unperturbed, Bossanova went inside leaving Gage to follow her. Amongst the debris was a skeleton in a lab coat and an orange toolbox on the side. Bossanova began patting down the skeleton, rooting through all the pockets—meanwhile, Gage was drawn to the toolbox. He flipped open the latch and threw back the lid while Bossanova continued her search, and spotted a holotape sat neatly on top of the tools inside the box. He picked it up, looked at the label, and smiled. "Boss?"

"Yeah?"

Gage held up the tape and tapped the peeling label so she could see the spidery, looping handwriting. "It's the Welcome Center passcode."

Bossanova stared from Gage to the tape and back again, her mouth slightly open. She blinked several times, as if hardly daring to believe what she could see. Then she said in an awed whisper, "You can read?"

"Yes, I can fucking read!"

"But...you can read cursive?"

"Oh fuck off."

--

They returned to the Welcome Center with no more interruptions. Gage watched as Bossanova tapped her way through the console outside the sealed door. She propped the scrap of paper she'd scrawled the passcode on against the screen and copied out the digits carefully, glancing around as she did. The terminal beeped and the door slid open.

The darkness beyond waited like an open maw. Gage shivered, staring into the heavy, compressing blackness. Bossanova hesitated, her sword at the ready, and held out a hand to keep Gage and the two idiots in their place. She stepped forward, each slow step barely making a sound, her weapon raised.

The source of the monsters were in here. For all they knew, they were walking into a teeming nest. If that was the case, Gage doubted they'd be able to clear them out alone.

Bossanova continued through the door, glancing from side to side. The darkness swallowed her whole.

Gage shifted on the spot, gripping his gun tight. A terrible, heavy silence was smothering him, raking at his nerves. She'd given clear instructions—stay here, keep watch while she scouted ahead. He'd argued Cito could do the honours, but Bossanova had cut him off with a, "Do you trust him to be our scout?"

No. No, he did not.

But the few seconds of silence were torturous. He wondered if the gatorclaws had caught her with no time to scream, or even—

"Gage," Bossanova's voice whispered, and he sighed with relief.

"Yeah?"

"There's a gatorclaw ahead. You ready?"

Gage aimed his rifle down the tunnel. "Nope."

--

The only positive of the battle was its shortness.

Gage contemplated how quickly it would take for a gatorclaw to shit him out, before the thing's tail hit him in the chest and sent him flying through a set of double doors.

He stared up at the ceiling, dazed, when he felt the crushing grip of the gatorclaw at his ankle, and yelled in pain as the back of his head scraped along the ground. Then Gage was dangling in the air, the beady yellow eyes piercing him as the thing opened its mouth.

Gage grabbed a grenade from his belt, primed it, and tossed it down the gatorclaw's throat.

The eyes widened, and it made a choking noise before dropping him. Gage anticipated the fall just in time, crashing painfully onto his shoulder instead of his head, and quickly scrambled away. The blast flung him off his feet again, and he felt something hot and wet splatter all down his back.

"For fuck's sake," he muttered, peeling himself off the ground and gingerly sitting up.

Bossanova ran over sporting a bloody lip and a tense expression. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Gage muttered, batting away her helpful hands. "I'm fine. Jus' gimme a minute, damn." She crouched down next to him, worry etched into every line of her features, and he felt his anger simmer. "I appreciate the concern, boss, but I'm okay."

He stared at his stinging hands, which were raw and grazed, and then waved her away irritably, and she stood up, wandering over to the terminals in the back of the room. Cito and the ghoulrilla—both unscathed—were sitting near the entrance of this dingy, underground atrium, eating the glowing plants in the dilapidated flower bed. Gage was surprised they weren't poisonous.

Bossanova disappeared through the set of double doors he'd been thrown through, and came out a few minutes later clutching Gage's gun and a couple of holotapes. She thrust the gun into his hands and walked over to the terminal, inserting one of the tapes into the machine.

Seconds later a voice filtered out of the sputtering speakers. Gage barely paid attention, checking his gun wasn't damaged instead. It was the same guy who had created the gatorclaws—McDermot or whatever his name was—and he liked to talk. But then something caught Gage's attention.

"...continuing to modify the Nuka-Gen Replicator to provide a source of food."

"Gage," Bossanova said from across the room, her face lighting up with delight, "do you know what this means?"

"Mm?"

"Weren't you listening?"

"Nope," Gage lied. He took a strange delight in annoying her.

"This could mean food for Nuka World forever," Bossanova snapped, glaring at him. "The amount of trade we could generate with this alone—"

"—as long as the Nuka-Gen Replicator continues to function, I'll have an endless supply of food for—"

"An endless supply of food so long as the power supplies hold out," Gage interrupted lazily, earning himself an irritated scowl.

"So you were listening!"

"Don't matter whether I was or I wasn't, if we can't control what this thing makes, and if it ain't got no power."

"—Dr. Hein would be proud of my accomplishment. It's sad—"

Bossanova opened her mouth to argue, when she froze. Her entire body stiffened, her hand gripping her sword once again.

—it's been so long, I've almost forgotten what he looked like. My God—it's been decades now, maybe even a century or more, hasn't it? Has it been so long? I...I'll...I'll continue recording later."

Bossanova slowly looked down to stare at the terminal, as if lost in another world. Gage gave her a good ten seconds out of bewilderment at her sudden silence, and then said, "Boss?"

She turned to him, blinking as if surprised to see him there, and then slowly shook her head. "I've never thought about it before," she said weakly, gazing at a distant point over Gage's shoulder, "but I don't remember what...I don't...I never had photos after the bombs…"

"Nicky?" Gage asked, startling himself that he'd remembered. Bossanova looked equally taken aback, but she nodded.

"Yes. Nicky." Her face became blank, and she shook her head. "Hurry up with your weapon checks. This place won't clear itself out." She strode off, her gnarled hands clutching tight around the hilt of her sword.

Gage sighed. He was almost getting used to her mood swings now. But he decided to sit and glower a bit longer to emphasise his displeasure.

After a few minutes of being sufficiently grumpy, he got to his feet, wincing. Everything ached and stung, and they still had plenty to do. Not for the first time, he suspected they wouldn't be finishing this job in one go. But at least if they figured out where the gatorclaws were coming from the rest could fall into place later.

He poked around the atrium a little, using a console to unlock an old cold storage room. All the fridges inside were empty, but he noticed an open vent near the top of the room, its grate hanging on by one rusted bolt.

All in all, not much loot to be had.

Disappointed, he made his way back down the stairs and towards Bossanova, who was reading through something on one of the other terminals. She didn't say what it was, and Gage didn't trouble himself to ask. Instead, he whistled through his teeth at Cito and the ghoulrilla, Chris. They loped over, alert and ready, and Gage begrudgingly admired their tenacity. Bossanova straightened up, glancing towards the doors leading to the next room, and caught his eye. She gave a slight nod, an unspoken agreement passing between them as they hung back and let Cito move ahead. Best to keep the meat shields up front.

Just in case.

[svtegg]

introductions (SVT apocalypse!au)

♡ wordcount: 2,1k ♡ chapter 4/? (chapter 1. chapter 2 & chapter 3 is here!)

♡ rating: None! This part is basically introducing more charaters and dialouge! I hope you enjoy it even if its a little slow! 

♡ pairing: svt x reader 

♡ After meeting Mingyu he takes me to another building in what looks to be a camp set up in a mountain resort, he promises to help me fix my dislocated shoulder. Why did I trust him so easily? Would he really help me? What was this place?

The room I walk into is big, a reception is the first thing that meets us and behind the desk is a closed door to what I assume would have been a staff room when this motel looking lot was operating. There are three dusty looking leather couches all placed whimsically around a fireplace with a wooden old looking table in the middle in the corner opposite to the reception. The floor is a worn down dark brown wood and on top is a huge red, dusty and discolored Persian rug. The smell of burnt wood, dust and cardboard is almost overwhelming. I can see the specks of dust floating in the warm air as the last sunlight peeks through the huge windows, outside is only overgrown forest and tall grass. There’s a staircase that leads up, the upper floor lined with several wooden doors to match the wooden walls and wooden railing. Mingyu passes a wall with a huge painting of an elk, and in the paint you could see where the sun hits because its yellow and discolored in an almost perfect diagonal cut. There are several plastic and cardboard boxes strewn and stacked under the staircase but as Mingyu trudges past them I don’t dare to even think about looking into them, afraid that one wrong move would have me dead in seconds.

The tall man leads me into what seems to be the dining area and I can hear several voices from the opening in the wall that leads into the kitchen. The strong smell of something that could be eaten flows through the air. “Smells good boys!” Mingyu hollers, and it causes me to jump a little as we enter the white industrial kitchen. It’s in surprisingly good condition compared to the rest of the world. “Yah! Shut your mouth you lazy oaf, you should have been the one cooking but you just haaad to volunteer to stand guard for that newcom-“ The boy who’s speaking is quickly shut up as both Mingyu and I appear in the middle of the kitchen. There are two other men in the room, one stirring whatever was in that pot, the other sitting on the counter beside the burner. They seem younger than Mingyu as they’re both significantly shorter, one has fairly long black hair and a slimmer face with round eyes that look at you quizzically while the other, the boy who was speaking, has shorter hair a squarer face with smaller eyes, but his nose is incredibly perfect making his face look more masculine and grown. They’re both wearing clothes that look like they’ve never been worn before. “Hey.” The boy on the counter softly speaks, his voice sounding slightly familiar. His tone is friendly, yet stern and firm. I look down as I feel all their eyes on me.

Mingyu is the first to speak. “What are you making?” he snickers, leaning against the counter adjacent to the one the other boys are currently occupying, leaving me standing almost in the middle of the room. Counter boy laughs and looks at the boy beside him. “I have no idea. Something with that ancient ham Seungcheol hyung found a couple weeks ago.” The boy lightly laughs, his voice seemingly full of life and cheerful. They all laugh. “Oh, yeah!” Mingyu suddenly speaks, almost like he suddenly realized I was still in the room. He looks at me quickly then at the other two boys. “Her shoulder is dislocated.” He states as a matter of fact, the boy that was previously stirring the pot hisses in understanding and looks at me apologetically, his eyes darting back to Mingyu. “I’m gonna pop it back into place but I’m gonna need one of you to help me hold her.” He casually speaks as he leans back against the counter. My head snaps up. “What?”

“Sure. You wanna do it now?” The boy on the counter says, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans his head back against one of the cabinets behind him. My stomach growls as I stare at Mingyu. “What do you mean hold me down?” I ask harshly, looking at him with as much toughness as I can muster. “It’s gonna hurt, and if you move to much it might pop back in wrong and it’s just gonna make it worse for you in the future.” Stirring boy says, his voice softer as he tries to explain to me that they just wanna help me. I breathe in deeply. “Fine.” I say as I breathe out.

They conclude that the best place to do it is on the rug in the entrance hall, the rug acting as some sort of protection from whatever was gonna happen in a couple minutes. As we make out way out, the boy on the counter staying behind to watch the food that was currently “safetyboiling”, the two others make small talk about lookout duty and the rations they had. I wasn’t really paying attention until the three of us arrived at the said carpet. “Okay, so I’ll hold her and you pop it back in place?” Mingyu checked, the other boy nodding and gesturing for me to lay down. I hesitated, but decided anything else than having my entire right arm not work for the rest of my life is good, and got down on the floor. As I breathed in the scent of the old rug that encased my face, Mingyu positioned himself so his knees where on either side of my head, and then he took a hold of my working shoulder and lightly pressed it down into the rug. Then he looked up at the other boy. I could feel the anticipation form in my stomach, and I started feeling my hands getting clammy.

The boy looked down at me, his dark brown eyes filled with something close to compassion and as the evening sun from the huge window hit his face, he gently took a hold of my right hand, then the other on my elbow. “This is gonna hurt, take a deep breath.” He instructed in a low voice, and just as I finished breathing in he moved my arm and shoulder in a circular motion. My vision blurred and I think I let out a scream as my entire shoulder beat in pain and I could feel my heartbeat in my chest. I’m not sure, but I think I lost consciousness for a couple seconds and when I came to it the boy was looking down at me, his hand still grasping mine firmly. As our eyes met, I mustered out a quiet “I’m Y/N.” as I tried to even out my breaths. The boy laughed heartily, his head thrown back and torso shaking. The sound was the most beautiful thing I’d heard in almost 5 years and I felt a wave of peacefulness crash through my body.

“Hi Y/N, I’m Chan.” The boy answered, his face cracked into a huge grin as he helped me off the ground. Mingyu’s hand met my shoulder to help me steady myself as I took a few shaky steps forward. Then I laughed, a quiet laugh that sounded more like a breath but still, a laugh. “How does your shoulder feel?” Mingyu rasped, his eyes searching my face as I moved around a little. “Good.” I answered and lifted my right hand slightly, shaking it a little to check if it was actually real. The subtle dull ache in my hand was nothing compared to how it felt just a few minutes ago. “Thanks.” I breathed out and looked up to meet the eyes of Chan who was still smiling slightly at me. He gave a confirming head nod as if to say you’re welcome. “Let’s go eat. I am starving.” Mingyu giggled, as he began trudging towards the kitchen.

As we ate, I learned the other boy in the kitchen was the one who had found me in the park the day I thought I died, his name was Minghao. Minghao was rather quiet, but he explained that he thought you were dead when he and Seungcheol found me, but just as he was about to walk away I had muttered something and they had realized I was very much alive. As we ate the three of them told me about their group. They where 7 guys who had all come from different groups, but somehow all ended up here. Migyu and Minghao had been in a group with two others, Wonwoo and Jisoo when they had come across this place and in one of the rooms, they had found Seungcheol, Chan and Hoshi. They had been hiding out because Seungcheol has been shot by a group of raiders. He was barely alive when they met, but Mingyu and Jisoo who has medical training, managed to help Seungcheol and they ended up just teaming up and camping up the resort. They had managed to get electricity back up and they had running water since the water supply was mostly natural and supplied by gravital force.

As I shoved another spoonful of the concoction Chan and Minhao had been making another boy made his way into the kitchen are. “Minghao it’s your shift.” The tall lanky man muttered as he sat down opposite to me and grabbed a bowl. Minghao excused himself and disappeared silently. Silence took over the room as the new man started eating. I eyed him up and down, he was slim, dark hair hanging down over his eyebrows and almost covering the dark circles under his eyes. He looked up and met eyes with me for a couple of seconds before he looked back down and kept eating. Mingyu began talking about something I didn’t really hear, and I kept eyeing the unfamiliar man. “Take it easy the next week or so, your shoulder needs to settle properly before you do any heavy activity.” Chan spoke up, and my eyes darted over to him. He was getting up, taking his and Mighao’s bowls with him into the kitchen. “Save some for the others, hyung.” Mingyu said as he got up too, taking his utensils with him. The man across from me gave a short dip of his head as if to nod. I looked at Mingyu as he moved around the long table. “You can probably go back to your room after you’re done, your stuff is in the utility room, but you won’t need it during the night anyway. I’ll come check on you tomorrow morning to see how your shoulder is doing. Have a good night!” He smiled, running a hand through his hair yet again and then turned to walk into the kitchen.

I sat back in my chair, looking around as the only noises I could hear where the slow chewing sounds of the man opposite of me. I noticed there was a huge light hanging from the ceiling, it looked to be some kind of contemporary art piece with lightbulbs hanging from it and it didn’t fit in at all. I let out a breath, almost sounding like some kind of snort. “It’s ugly, right?” the man spoke up, his voice dark and breathy. I hummed in response, my eyes darting down to his face. He was also looking up at the contraption above. “The interior designer of this entire place did a horrible job, to be fair” He quickly continued as he bent his head back down to spoon some more food into his mouth. I let my eyes fall upon his face. He was undoubtedly attractive, his sharp cheekbones and straight nose making his face appear more masculine and stronger, while his soft eyes and plump lips gave him almost a cat like look. “What happened to your shoulder?” He asked, almost in a nonchalant tone, but still peeked up at my face to gauge my reaction. We held eye contact for a second before I had to look away.

“I dislocated it.” I stated, my voice coming out harsher than I meant it to. He hummed in response. It was quiet for another couple of seconds, until the sound of the tall man putting down his bowl broke the silence. “I’m Wonwoo.” He offered as he got up, placing his spoon in his now empty bowl then picking the bowl up. “See you around.” He gave a small smile, almost not even noticeable before he turned around and strode towards the kitchen. I just looked at his back as he slipped through the swing door into the white tiled kitchen. His wide shoulders covered in a blue button-down shirt with small white stripes down the length of it, and long legs adorned in baggy black pants that looked like they were several decades old. Then he disappeared.

a/n: Hiiii! thanks for reading! This part is a bit slow but i promise it gets better in the next parts!! feedback or requests can be sent via my ask! love u mwah 

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “The Most Dangerous Game...Night!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Francisco Angones

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Emmy Cicirega, Ben Holm

Directed by: Tanner Johnson

We’re back!

Season 1 ended with a war involving the full appearance of one of the most anticipated returning villains, and surprising revelations about a friend and the mother that just couldn’t be found. If you expected Season 2's opener to continue from that, you are mistaken. However, that's not a bad thing; we needed a break from the storm.

The episode starts off with Scrooge, the nephews, and Webby going into a temple with many traps. Right from the first minute, you can just tell by Louie’s expression that he’s not enjoying this as much as the rest of them. He accidentally walks into a cobweb, bumps into Scrooge which almost leads to him falling into a pit, and was too busy getting the webs out to help him out of it, unlike the other kids. This makes him the odd one out, starting a theme for this episode.

But, whoa, look at Dewey and Webby acting like a team to get past the aforementioned pit, harmonizing a song about how teamwork is the dreamwork. Dewey and Webby have teamed up quite a bit in Season 1, Webby being the only one in on Dewey's search for his mother, but they take it a lot further in this episode in their own subplot.

Huey gets to be involved as well, being the brains behind this operation. We learn that the best way to dodge arrow traps is to dodge and step in time with the opening of the DuckTales theme song. They even give it musical accompaniment the second time they do it, just in case you didn't get it the first time. They even end up facing backwards as soon as they're done with it, just like how they faced the camera in the original. A neat touch.

After Louie tries to do the same thing, but failing, we get to the practically obligatory Raiders of the Lost Ark reference. This comes complete with a golden idol to "borrow and then forget about". Specifically, the Idol of Cibola, which, legend has it, has some sort of legend that Louie doesn't even let Scrooge tell. He just wants to get the "whoa" over with.

He airs his laments on how all these adventures have been exactly the same. He even has a three step way of describing all of these adventures, and says that they've all been following this since the beginning. Not so coincidentally, this is a pretty good way to teach kids about three-act structures.

The setup - "Whoa! Some cool hidden city or treasure or whatever!"

The confrontation - "Wait, what? That cool thing is dangerous, cursed, or guarded by centaurs?!"

The resolution - "Ahhh! Louie almost dies, can we please move this along?"

Scrooge shrugs him off, saying that no two perilous scenarios are alike, and that they can be unpredictable. Of course, this is folllowed by Dewey taking the idol and the platform it was on lowering in an ominous way, even saying "whoa!" and "wait what?" at both of these. Louie even lifts his fingers up with each of these, though he doesn't get the chance to lift his third.

Instead, they're too busy running away from the boulder that closes out this cold open. Who could have seen that one coming, besides Louie? But see, it is a little less predictable: the boulder that chases after them happens to be wheel shaped. It's totally different from that other guy's perils with golden idols and boulders.

It's a new season, so I might as well talk about the opening theme song. Like Star Vs, it's mostly the same, with a few things changed for eagle-eyed viewers. The two that I can notice:

Gizmoduck is the one supplying the lasers this time.

More interestingly, Bouncer Beagle, who was kind of redundant since Ma Beagle is right next to him, is replaced with Magica De Spell. Maybe The Shadow War isn't the last we'll see of her? Well, it is not this episode.

While everyone else is excited about that adventure, Louie isn't, and he's especially not happy when he finds out that the Idol of Cibola only had a treasure map inside of it. Yay, more adventure. He's getting really tired of the "hunting" part of treasure hunting, he needs a break. Huey disagrees, and is absolutely excited.

The whole family is a perfect team, according to Huey. He's the brains, Webby is the fists, Dewey has the devil-may-care attitude, and Louie...is there too. Webby tends to be the brains and the one with the devil-may-care attitude occasionally, she has everything, but let's ignore that for now. Huey then starts to praise his own merits. Literally, he shows off his Junior Woodchuck merit badge sash. Louie sarcastically asks him if he's going to aim for getting his sewing badge. Huey says he already has it, but Louie points out a rip in the shirt.

Huey's Junior Woodchuck outfit happens to have a loose string, and he gets into a rut over it. He beats himself up over his "amateur hour" mistake. Another subplot, though one that shows up only occasionally, and anyone can guess where it will lead. Huey sees Louie's point and blames it on the constant adventuring; it must have torn this shirt apart! This gives Louie an idea.

Louie goes up to Scrooge and claims that all of this adventuring is tearing him and his brothers apart, bringing along the still stressed out Huey to point that out. Scrooge shrugs him off every step of the way. There's a callback to how Scrooge can't tell the nephews apart, which doesn't come up as much as one would think.

He says that they rarely have any quality, and suggests some things like Scrooge is walking out of the room. He suggests things like a Make Your Own Pizza Day, or a game night.

That make your own pizza day sure hit the spot for him, but as everyone knows, pizza always wins. Just kidding, it's the game night that piques his interest. How much does it pique his interest?

He's sure to let everyone know by joyfully exclaiming that it's game night to everyone. It's a side of Scrooge you don't see as often, though it definitely existed.

Everyone else isn't too happy, though. Mrs. Beakley explains that Scrooge really gets into this, everything becomes a war zone, and that, as Scrooge always bests his enemies by being smarter than the smarties, they are the enemies. Anyway, Scrooge tells everyone to team up. Scrooge gets Donald, Dewey gets his perfect partner and best friend Webby, and Mrs. Beakley gets Ghost Duckworth. It's a long story.

However, Ghost Duckworth pretends to notice that dark magic's afoot in the ethereal plane, making up an excuse to get out of this scene, and out of most of the episode. Instead, Mrs. Beakley has to make do with Launchpad. Louie tries to get Huey to join him, but...well...

...he has to relearn how to make that Krabby Patty after he messed up on those pickles. Again, much like Louie, I can see how this could end. Nothing can possibly ruin this game night and make this an adventure! ...now what "wait, what" is going to ruin this game night and make this an adventure?

Gyro shows up, with a new invention: a megaphone that listens in on microscopic things. Specifically, he calls it the a Micro Phone, and he's going to use it to find the so-tiny-they-can't-be-seen-by-even-the-viewer's-naked-eyes Gyropuddlians, a reference to the Lilliputians from Gulliver’s Travels, and become their God-King. How? It happens to have a shrink ray function, too. It seems like as long as a cartoon is on, an episode involving a ray that makes things bigger or smaller becomes more likely to happen.

Louie, exasperated by how they can't escape adventure even when they're staying at home, decides to do the sensible thing...

…aim the Micro Phone at Gyro and shoot! He doesn’t even have a single qualm that he just doomed one of Scrooge’s most important employees in a nightmarish terror of being among giants that nobody can see with the naked eye. Huey is noticeably upset, but Louie tries to calm him down in an also sensible way.

Louie: And we can't tell anybody! Because if you do tell anybody, things will only get worse, until you'll never be able to sew a merit badge onto a sash ever again, OK?!

Huey: (looks at his Junior Woodchuck shirt, mumbling with stress)

Also, he believes Gyro's too smart to be killed, and the "ahhh" part will end with him almost getting killed, but learning a lesson in the end. In fact, he even uses the Micro Phone to reveal that his "whoa" actually happened: he did become the God-King.

Meanwhile, we get to one of the Game Night portions of the episode, starting with a game of charades. Pick something out of the hat, act like it, and hope your teammate can guess it. Mrs. Beakley ends up being the timekeeper, as much as everyone would want to see how Launchpad would play charades. Donald is really good at Charades, since not wing understood verbally, non-verbal is easy for him. Nobody has to worry that they didn’t get that; this is all explained by Webby.

Next, it's the perfect team ever's turn. That is, Dewey and Webby, continuing the subplot. We essentially get the scene we would have gotten with Mrs. Beakley and Launchpad. Webby gets a really easy one: Scrooge McDuck. But, wait what? Dewey doesn't get the answer no matter what Webby does? They're sure it's just a fluke.

Eventually, it’s Huey and Louie’s turn, but they’re interrupted by Gyro, God of the Gyrolites, using the Micro Phone to announce his glory. The boys immediately. The others don’t seem to mind. In fact, they're unaware of Huey and Louie’s adventure throughout the entire episode.

They take the Micro Phone to the kitchen, where Gyro tells them what's been going on. Louie was slightly wrong on his initial guess: the tiny people are actually going to go to war against the giants. Why? Because the giants keep destroying their villages!

One notable example? The floating island of Toiletopolis. I mean, we had to go to toilet humor eventually, complete with Louie's disgusted reaction on realizing what that could possibly mean. Soon, a few ants show up, and Gyro the God-King tries his best to shrink them. He ends up accidentally shrinking a few other things, such as a refrigerator, a sink...

...and Launchpad, who happened to be walking in the door. Yeah, that last one’s a big deal. While Launchpad doesn't have the Micro Phone with him, he does have his cellphone to tell him what kind of horrors he's facing, like the giant spider that's slowly walking across Huey and Louie's feet. Wow, Scrooge's manor has a pest problem!

Mrs. Beakley shows up and wonders where her game partner is. Nothing really comes of that other than taking Mrs. Beakley out of the plot. I kind of forgot she was even there, to be honest. We almost didn’t need Duckworth, either, but it did lead to a funny line earlier, so that's okay.

The next game is the Generic Block Pushing Game. No, they don’t actually call it that, in fact, they don't call it anything. Well, someone else has a name for it, but it's clearly not it. Donald and Scrooge take a block out flawlessly, but Dewey and Webby have a harder time, especially when one of the pieces seems to be moving on its own. They, of course, blame each other over it.

Launchpad calls them and says they're just at the Infinity Tower, trying to conquer it by making it topple down. Huey and Louie take a moment to realize what exactly could be called an infinity tower by really tiny beings, as one of the blocks in that tower appears to be moving on its own. Dewey blames his teammate over it, continuing the Dewey and Webby plot.

We then see the toppling of the so-called "Infinity Tower". This is shown completely in slow motion until it zooms out to an unimpressive tumbling, a subtle way to show off the difference between their perspectives. Suddenly, the call goes out, and we get a commercial break.

Huey and Louie are now crying over how everyone was crushed, to everyone else's confusion. After a few seconds of this, they do get a phone call from Launchpad saying that he's okay, because the tiny people happen to be really fast. It's like a Goosebumps chapter break. "Suddenly, the tower collapses, and their friend isn't answering their calls! BUM BUM BUM! Nope, he's okay!"

We get this emotional moment that reveals that Louie is acting like this for more reasons than just "lovable laziness". We know it's emotional because they subtly play piano music over it. This is quickly shrugged off, but it does raise some good points.

The final challenge: Scroogeopoly, a game about money. All the pieces are top hats, and the oldest player goes first. Yeah, that’s not going to be rigged in favor of the duck that's on the box, and pretty much everyone knows it. Scrooge just shrugs them all off, and, of course, dominates the entire game. I sure say something like that a lot in this review; it's just what he does constantly in this episode.

However, a move that nobody expected: the Micro Phone happened to be aimed at them, because the mini people trained flies to be able to lift it. They get shrunken down. Louie shows up, and gets out his monocular that he just happened to have to see what he has done. It was interesting to not be able to see what these Gyropuddlians look like, but it looks like there's no choice but to end that gag.

For the first time in the episode, we get to see these tiny creatures, because these naked eyes are on ducks only slightly smaller than them now. They look like bears, possibly water bears. Anthropomorphic bears, too, not like the like-real-life bear that appeared in that Goldie episode. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to the bottom of that, alongside all of those regular birds that appear occasionally. Including in this episode during the “GAME NIIIGHT” scene.

But, whoa, this Micro Phone does have an unshrink function! Wait, what, it works on the tiny water bears, too, as we accidentally aimed at them instead of the ducks? Ahhh! He’s giant, even though nobody else ends up being giant in this episode during the necessarily predictable conclusion of this plot. Maybe he held the button for too long?

Louie, now all alone, has to figure out how to get out of this situation. Louie’s whole plot in this episode is essentially him trying to figure out how he could fit into this plot, and he’s not fitting into the “lovably lazy schemer” part that he usually fits into. Suddenly, he figures it out: he has to be a schemer in a different way.

We get the fight scene, with all of them fighting the Gyropuddlians in their own way, all under the guidance of the giant-to-them Louie. But, ahhh, Dewey and Webby aren't follow along because they seemingly can't trust each other! This suddenly ends with Scrooge telling them that they don't have to get along as him and Donald don't. This references the charades scene from earlier. They're not friends, they're family. That apparently was all they needed to get over it, subplot over.

Even Huey gets over his fear of failing to sew, in a move that is a little expected. This is all due to Louie's new planning skills! Will they manage to get out of...yes. The answer is yes. I don't even need to finish that question. How did they do it? They do it in an entertaining way. This is a review, not a summary.

Since they obviously get out of this situation, we get to the also obvious "I'm sorry" scene with a not-so-obvious conclusion. He comes into the room, with 15 different apologies, and Scrooge has this angry look on his face. Turns out, it ends up very well for Louie.

So well, we suddenly end on this shot of Louie getting his own room and even his own LLC. Will this be the start of a story arc focused on Louie, since Dewey managed to have all the "fun" in Season 1? Only time will tell.

How does it stack up?

This episode is a great opener, even if it's not as epic as the first episode of the whole series. I mean, did anyone expect that? Sure, the subplots can be a bit forced, mostly to force that three-act-structure gag, but it's still enjoyable.

Next, the animated debut of Donald Duck’s screwy cousin from the comics, Fethry Duck!

← The Shadow War! 🦆 The Depths of Cousin Fethry! →

[fallout-4-freak]

companions + maxson and father react to sole being a war hero (my headcannon is that the simulation in fallout 3’s operation anchorage is based on Nate’s time in the military)

Interesting HC, anon! Hope you enjoy :>

Ada:

Quite impressed that Sole is a decorated hero from the past. No wonder they’re so deadly out in the Commonwealth! Ada is very thankful to be teamed up with such a strong and talented person. To be on the receiving end of their fury would be… unpleasant.

Cait:

Since there’s no proof that Sole is a war hero, she’s a bit skeptical at first. However, Sole takes her to their old house in Sanctuary. They have tons of fancy little medals and patches stored away in a secret safe. That, combined with their combat expertise, is enough proof for her. Sole appears to become emotional upon seeing the box of trinkets they earned centuries ago, so Cait slips out to give them some space. 

She vows to never doubt Sole again, as she wants to learn all she can from that powerful firecracker. 

Codsworth:

As he already knew that Sole was a decorated hero from the war, Codsworth is is usual respectful self. He’ll try and cheer Sole up using their past achievements– there’s no way they can possibly fail in finding their son, as they have so many useful skills!

Codsworth is also secretly relieved that all that time in the military Sole spent was worth it. That time away from the family, training and fighting, will help Sole survive the horrid land the Commonwealth has become! Plus, Sole is so very honorable, being a war hero and all. That should get them far in life. Not many people of high moral character are present in the Commonwealth, so maybe Sole can inspire people...

Curie:

Shocked that Sole is such a hero. Then Curie feels slightly ashamed at her initial disbelief, as Sole is so tactical and skilled. She believes them right away, and enjoys Sole’s various stories. Curie especially likes the ones where Sole does something heroic!

Sole finds it funny and sweet that Curie puts up with their stories, thought they’re sure that Curie is just being polite…

Curie is also quick to comfort Sole when they sound upset. Sometimes, the stories they tell really bring out a troubled side to Sole– and Curie hates that. 

Danse:

Skeptical, but chooses to believe Sole for the time being. They know this too– Sole shows off some of the medals they keep with them, as some form of proof. Danse comes around with time, enjoying the various heroics that Sole tells him and others about. After all, the BoS is made of soldiers– they usually enjoy stories about dangerous missions and daring rescues. Danse eventually talks to his superiors about Sole, attempting to boost their rank. With the knowledge of Sole’s heroics, and how well they serve the BoS, the higher-ups grant Sole the rank of Paladin swiftly. 

Deacon:

Impressed with Sole’s stories. He’s a masterful liar, and thus can (almost) always tell when someone’s fibbing. Sole doesn’t seem to be making anything up, unless they learned how to lie like a pro. Deacon enjoys when Sole tells their tales to others, as he can hop in and embellish them. That always leads to folks asking if he was frozen too– he says yes, of course. And will start making shit up about pre-war America.

Sole laughs these moments off, usually correcting the story. However, if Deacon seems to be having a heap of fun, they’ll let him slide.

Deacon also talks to Des about getting Sole a better role within the Railroad, much to Sole’s delight. No more boring errands for them!

Dogmeat:

He loves Sole for who they are, and will always be there for them. The fact Sole is a war hero changes nothing, as Dogmeat doesn’t understand what that is. He’s just happy they’re a strong and capable individual.

Hancock:

He believes Sole, when they tell him that they were once a war hero. Glad that such a badass is on his side, Hancock loves swapping stories with Sole. Hancock also teaches Sole some dirty fighting tricks, and Sole educates him in some rather interesting army tactics. Hancock does vow to keep an eye on Sole from now on, though. If their honorable little heart got corrupted, then they’d be able to take out nearly anyone in the Commonwealth… Including Goodneighbor, as much as Hancock hates to admit it. 

Longfellow:

Despite being alive for decades, Longfellow hasn’t ever met someone who called themselves a ‘war hero’. Very skeptical, and isn’t entirely sure that Sole’s stories aren’t just drunken rambling. Longfellow doesn’t know what to think. Still, he’ll gladly keep Sole company. At the very least, they’re entertaining to be around. And they’re handy in a fight.

Eventually, he recognizes that the haunted tone to Sole’s voice gets when telling war stories isn’t made up. Nobody could possibly fake that sort of tone– the look in their eyes was just as creepy. Longfellow feels guilty for his secret doubts, and tries to help Sole when the memories come back just a bit too strong.

MacCready:

Not really fond of Sole’s brutal close-combat tactics. MacCready is glad that Sole soon shows off some more diverse skills. Very, very diverse, judging by how fast they can kill enemies in so many different ways. Upon asking Sole where they trained, MacCready learns that Sole was once a hero in the US military. Not sure if he should believe Sole, MacCready keeps a trained eye on Sole. If they turn on him, he’s toast. 

With time, along with Sole saving MacCready’s rear a few times, he slowly learns to trust Sole. They swap stories, and end up helping each other deal with their respective trauma. MacCready never expected his new ‘boss’ to become his pal, but MacCready would gladly run with Sole ‘til the end. 

Nick Valentine:

To meet such an upstanding person who can handle whatever comes their way is inspiring. Nick has training stored in his own memory banks, but Sole is infinitely more skilled. And how they care for everyone is surprising– Nick knew he had a good feeling about this ex-popsicle!

He won’t outright ask for proof, instead searching Sole’s face for their telltale tics, or for inconsistencies in their stories. He comes to the conclusion that Sole isn’t kidding, and is glad that they’re not just a pompous fool claiming to be a hero. Nick is pleased to stand by such an interesting person! 

Besides, Sole seems like they need a good pal– they sound so upset, talking about the past. War never does good things to people…

Piper:

Immediately asks for proof, and will snoop it out herself if Sole refuses to give it . When they finally give her that proof in the form of their medals and memorabilia from the military, Piper wants to write some articles about Sole ASAP. She knew that Sole was an energetic combatant, but she just assumed that they had traveled the Commonwealth and learned from an old raider or something. But Sole is the real deal! 

What an exciting chance for the city to learn about a unique person’s life… And maybe they could all pick up some self-defense tips. God knows that Diamond City would be absolutely screwed if some baddies found their way inside, with how incompetent DC security is. 

Porter Gage:

Doesn’t believe a word of what Sole says, which is why Sole goes ALL the way back to Sanctuary, grabs their old box of medals, then travels ALL the way back to Nuka-World. This alone shows Gage that Sole wasn’t kidding, and apologies profusely. Sole shrugs his disbelief off– they had to go grab their things from Sanctuary anyways, before Preston and the Minutemen realized that Sole was now the Overboss of Nuka-World. Sole teaches their raiders many different tactics they learned while on the front lines, and entertains them with violently glorious tales of their time in the army. 

Preston:

Impressed with how much Sole knows about combat– and all their fancy war hero achievements show just how good at heart they are! Preston enjoys Sole’s tales, except on bad days. Then they’re just too depressing. 

Still, Preston is pleased that Sole chose their side to fight on! The Minutemen really benefit from Sole’s expertise, and their kind heart. Preston makes sure that Sole gets plenty of downtime, so they can get some deserved relaxation. After all, someone who’s seen the horrors of war AND woken up 210 years in the future really needs some time to kick back and sort their mind out.

Strong:

Well, Sole’s very good in combat. Strong doesn’t know what a ‘war hero’ is, but people generally look up to heroes, so… Guess that means Sole is good at war and people like them for it?

He doesn’t really care about their achievements, as bragging is stupid. As long as Sole fights well, he’s happy. 

X6-88:

Guess that explains why Sole is a stunningly strong combatant. They’ve got the deadly skills of a courser, without the Institute’s training. X6-88 isn’t sure he should believe Sole’s wild stories of the war they fought in. But, with how respected and honest they are, maybe there’s something to Sole’s story.

X6-88 will go off on his own, break into some military posts, and try to dig up some records. After much searching, he finds some proof of Sole’s achievements in the line of duty. Without saying a word of his intense hunt, he apologizes to Sole for doubting them. 

Of course, if they bring up some more outrages claims, he might go looking through ancient terminals yet again. 

Maxson: 

Honored that such a decorated person is joining the Brotherhood. He has secret doubts about Sole’s claims, but if they came out of a freezer after missing the last 210 years… What would be so wild about them also being a military hero from that distant past? He may question them occasionally, to look for inconsistencies in their stories… But everything lines up. He’ll ask Sole to give special training to the initiates. 

Once they find their box of medals to further back up their claims, Maxson promotes them up the ranks swiftly.

[elane-in-the-shadows]

Red Queen Fan Fiction - Paradise Refracted Chapter 4

Warning! Contains War Storm Spoilers! Warning!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

Find this on AO3 and on wattpad

Evangeline POV

I kept looking after Elane, futilely as she was invisible, but the pulse of her pendant gave me a hint to her general direction as she moved away farther and farther.

You’re still a fast runner, love.

I forced my focus back to the enemies at hand, charging toward us. I started to pull at guns and threw them away and changed the ways of their bullets. As if a bullet could hit me, when this was the first thing a magnetron child learned. It was to stupid to come at a Samos with guns but then again, often they weren’t aimed at me, but at my comrades. If those were cowards, they’d keep me close and use me to protect themselves. Which would be stupid as well, since I had other things to do than play bodyguard. I was here to fight and dispatch the enemy magnetrons.

Although I’d happily play bodyguard for Elane, if she let me.

Instead I dashed towards the raiders, always staying in motion, dodging and deflecting blows and missiles coming at me while looking out to make hits myself. By now, the enemy magnetrons had divided between those riding these demonic cycles and those fighting on foot, four in each team. I gritted my teeth, well aware of the odds – and of the challenge. The battle on day before yesterday had been a joke compared to this. Then again, this was exactly what I was training for. What I longed for. I charged at their circle, yanking on the machines to destroy their formation and distract them while their comrades on foot gladly accepted my invitation to fight. They came to assault me, but either I deflected their shards and needles or warded them off with shields of my own, formed quickly from the light sheets of metal on my armour. I kept on running, feasting on their frustration. When the riders closed in on me, I jumped, pushing myself off and away from their machines, using the higher ground for a surprise attack at the foot soldiers. Two went down dead, one was injured.

Let’s see if they’re also good at deflecting blows.

I barely touched the ground before jumping again and I spun in the air as the cycles cruised around me. I grinned as I dismantled one machine and used its parts to stab its rider in the perfect, lethal place, then proceeded to cut the throat of a fourth raider, using their armour to push them against the injured raider on foot to finish her off.

For a second, I allowed myself to breathe, before falling again into a run. There was a point to my lack of heavy armour, as I tried to become lighter and lighter. To run, and to fly, something only the best magnetrons ever mastered, and which would give me the edge to win.

I could hardly call it “flying” so far, to be honest. I jumped, higher than most human could, and stayed so for seconds with the right metal anchor. Pitiful, compared to Father’s prowess, and I heard his voice in the back of my head. But it didn’t matter. I’d improve, become stronger, faster, deadlier. My feet landed in the face of raider number six, making him oblivious to the spike stabbing his back, right through the heart. I rolled off, hearing a faint sound in my ears, like the ring of a bell. Or the pulse of Elane’s pendant. Don’t look for her, I scolded myself, trust her. She knows what she’s doing, she’ll take care of herself. And if necessary, she’d take off the pendant and leave me in the dark about her whereabouts while I had my own battle to win.

There were two enemies left now, a foot soldier and a rider. The latter had reactivated their cycle and was about to roll me over. As if. The other one was hesitating somewhere behind me, more of a backup than an aggressor.

“Time to finish this!” I yelled.

In the distance, Barrow’s lightning ruled the sky, dispatching animosi raiders and their huge familiars; probably those the Montfortan animosi couldn’t control and chase off.

I ignored the faint thought of Mother, still in Norta. I forgot about father, dead because I hadn’t warned him. “He wouldn’t have listened,” I snapped, and charged towards the cycle coming for me.

I couldn’t have changed anything, I shouldn’t feel guilty. And today, I’d best him anyway, prove that I was a Samos through and through, a woman who won and had no fear.

Fear was in the raider coming for me and they changed their course, offering me the chance to attack by ridding them off their machine with a mighty shove just as they drove a curve. They weren’t as surprised as I anticipated though, tossing a spray of metal at me the same moment they were back on their feet.

Damn. This was the first blood of mine drawn today, but I couldn’t let that stop me. I warded off the other splinters in the air and grabbed my opponent, a fraction of my mind scouting the area for the last raider, who was still waiting but had to be ready to engage at any second. I had to make this quick. I threw them over my shoulder, about to kick, but they pulled me off balance. I rolled off, checking on the left-over shards and shoved them away a little with a thought. Was my foe aware of them as well?

I got up again, the raider circled me. I formed a sword and attacked with a feint, they blocked, raising their own new sword now. They loved this challenge, this kind of duel, too much, maybe even enjoying a battle with another master Silver. Did they – all the raiders – miss this part of the past, their homes? Deep down, I could relate to that. I missed the Rift, longed for it. I would’ve loved to be its queen, or just its warrior at the side of Tolly and Elane. The Rift had been home, had been my paradise, and I’d lost it. I scream, fuelled by rage and pain, pain that would not go away, so I had to push it out of my soul.

I tossed my sword at my opponent and rammed my shoulder into them. Only a distraction, another feint while I pulled a needle-like splinter into the back of their head, killing them instantly.

I panted, my head spinning toward the last raider. This had taken too long, I had prolonged the duel needlessly. No matter. I ran, hardly as fast as in the beginning of the fight. Was that even more than five minutes ago? The raider offered to resistance as I crashed into him, getting both of us on the ground. I drew a blade and pointed it at his throat. “Checkmate,” I hissed.

He said nothing, shuddering. He was helpless below me, and young, almost a child. Finally, a sound left his mouth.

“What?” I snarled.

“Yield …” he whispered, desperation in his dark eyes and sweat of fear on his brown skin. I froze, doing nothing, and so I took in his agony for seconds, seconds that had to be torture for him. But … I could not look away, because I knew that feeling, that fear. Because I’d felt the same way when my father –

I jerked away in a rush, as if that made up for the last moments. “You yield,” I said aloud, tonelessly. “So you’re my prisoner.”

He nodded.

“Good.” I cuffed him in a symbolic act, then lifted my hands to show my comrades I was done here. “I have a prisoner,” I shouted, pulled him up and moved towards my allies, when I felt the pulse of Elane’s pendant moving closer, to my deep relief.

Barrow glared at me when we reunited at the transports. “You took a hostage?” she sneered.

I shrugged, although I knew why it upset her. “He surrendered, I accepted. Should I have killed him? Let him go? We need his information, Barrow. Or don’t we, General?” I looked at Farley. “Wasn’t that a secondary point of this operation?”

Farley hesitated, her eyes as unfriendly as ever. “Indeed, Samos,” she confirmed finally. “However, that was Haven’s job.”

And Elane appeared as if on cue. “And I’ve accomplished that mission,” she said, handing a bag to Farley.

I leaned out of the transport as we reached Ascendant despite the warning comments I earned myself. I didn’t care. I’d killed seven persons this morning and was only slightly exhausted, no one would get the better of me. Never again.

I smiled as I scouted Tolly, watching the outskirts of the city, squeezing Elane’s hand. I jumped out of the rolling vehicle despite further protests and dashed to my brother. His face was cut and bruised and I had to swallow my anger and thirst for vengeance. Think strategically, Samos, I reminded myself. He’s alive and seems unharmed otherwise.

I hugged him. “We were right, Eve,” he mumbled, “the city was attacked.”

“It’s okay, you’re alright?” I asked. “No casualties?”

He shook his head. “Only a handful of dead foes, but …”

“But this was only a warning,” General Farley said behind us. Tolly straightened at her appearance, yet she didn’t even look at him. Her complete disregard was almost a greater threat than he infamous glare. When her gaze finally found him, what would she do to him?

“Haven was right, Samos,” she continued. “The raiders work with the Lakelanders, she found the evidence. Seems like those little mermaids intend to attack Montfort before they try for Norta again.”

@mareshmallow @akingwithnodreams @clarafarleybarrow @redqueenfandom @wrenskonos @kihlorn @inopinion @samanthaslytherin @hannaharies @enchanteurlivres @lilyharvord @ihnejgafa @runexandra @silverasthedawn

[ournervousstudentnut-blog]

Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1: which is best for you?

IT's been more than four years after the Windows 10 released, and though many users initially resisted the shift, it is most certainly here to remain. As always though, there are a number of die-hard fans of prior operating systems that have to make the leap.

Its mix of a far enhanced desktop experience, more intuitive integration of touchscreen features, a plethora of new programs and much better functionality makes it a very clear upgrade over its predecessor.

With loads of new features, improved, integral hardware service and enhanced performance it is also a worthy update for Windows XP and Windows 7 consumers also.

Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1 time

We have found no clear difference in boot times between both OS, not on the 2 computers we employed for this evaluation: a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon plus a Microsoft Surface Guru. Both notebooks flashed to the login screen in 2 minutes, under either Windows 8.1 and Windows 10; using just fractions of a second's difference between the boot times of the 2 OSes on each machine. 1 characteristic that could shave a couple of seconds off real-world boot instances is Windows 10's facial recognition instrument, which permits an individual to be logged at the moment they sit in the front of the PC. This characteristic, however, takes a particular Intel RealSense 3D camera and won't work with a normal webcam. Together with fingerprint readers, these cameras are now relatively common in high-end laptops, which provides Windows 10 a small edge. Winner Windows 10, by a whisker, but only in the event that you count the tiny possible time saving of facial recognition.

The Ideal port for the Ideal apparatus

But ignore all that if you are using a Windows 10 Telephone or tablet-computer, every one of which utilizes a version variant of Windows 10 to show an interface best suited to each display size. Windows 10's tablet-style, in reality, seems an awful lot like Windows 8 Start screen. Microsoft attempted to market Windows 8 as a working system for every single device, however, it did so by forcing the exact same interface across tablet computers and PCs--just two quite different device types. Windows 10 tweaks the formulation, allowing a PC is a PC and also a tablet computer to be a tablet computer, and it is vastly better for this. And if you've got one of these fancy two-in-one hybrids? Windows 10's Continuum mode has you covered. Except, because of Windows 10's shared heart and universal programs Windows 10 Telephones can even mime appropriate Windows 10 PCs when linked to an external screen.

However, what about gambling?

Here is more guarantee for Windows 10 on the gambling side. DirectX 12, in matches that apply it, should observe healthy improvements. However, in games that don't utilize DX12, it is likely going to be a whole lot closer.

As an instance, I conducted Tomb Raider on our PCWorld zero-point system. It's an Intel Core i7-4770K, 16GB of DDR3/1600, along with a GeForce GTX 980. I used exactly the exact same Nvidia drivers using both OSes. Be aware that I conducted Windows 10 construct 10162 instead of the current construct 10240, as that's the previous ISO of Windows 10 previews that Microsoft made accessibly --no amount of coaxing would get Microsoft's servers to kick anything newer. My tests reveal a certain, if modest, advantage for Windows 10. Here is Tomb Raider for one to gawk in: Other evaluations gave a bit more of a triumph for Win10, but that will not set the world on fire like DX12 is anticipated to games that support you're outside. We are planning a more comprehensive look at Windows 10 gaming functionality, so stay tuned.

Personalization

Back in Windows 8, large icons and easy options were in the forefront. The Start screen enabled one to easily organize and resize live tiles, boosting their performance and ease of use. Together with Windows 10, the timeless tiled and desktop UI are no more different interfaces. Rather, elements of these exist and highly configurable. Live tiles are incorporated in the Start menu, instead of inside their interface, in which they may be transferred, the place to reveal rapid info, or launching apps. Programs can be immobilized or transferred to the menu for simple access.

Start Screen vs. Start Menu

The one most significant addition to Windows 10 is that the yield of the Start Menu, especially for routine desktop computer and regular no-touchscreen-use consumer. The Start are full of Screen of Windows 8 never made sense when using a mouse and keyboard and mercifully Microsoft has addressed this. Rather, Windows 10 includes a Start Menu that integrates the Live Tiles of this Windows 8 Start Screen and it may be made to match the entire screen. It is far more intuitive and makes with a mouse/trackpad and keyboard easier. If you mostly use the background computer in Windows then Windows 10 will make you a lot happier.

Edge Browser and Virtual Desktops

I have listed these both together as they're caught up attributes. The Edge browser (that is still a characteristic restricted at the start ) is Microsoft's effort to claw momentum out of Chrome. Edge works considerably faster than Internet Explorer and is only available on Windows 10. Besides this Windows 10 eventually adds Virtual Desktops such as those seen on Linux and Mac OS X. These enable users without multi-monitor installations to make multiple virtual desktops that are useful for dividing utilization between leisure and work, work into jobs or whatever you need. It is a fantastic feature.

You adore Windows Media Center

Microsoft has revamped plenty of items in Windows 10, replacing a lot of its heritage desktop apps with universal programs. By way of instance, Windows Photo Viewer is dead, replaced with the newest Photos app. However, while you may get Windows Photo Viewer back into Windows 10, you can not get Windows Media Center back. As it has gone, together with DVD playback service. For all, this is not a massive loss -- most people flow instead of seeing DVDs, after all, as well as Microsoft,  has been attempting to kill Media Center because of Windows 8. However, for a few, it might be a deal breaker. If you are a Media Center enthusiast -- or in the event that you desperately enjoy some other heritage features that don't now exist in Windows 10 -- afterward Windows 10 might not be for you personally.

Cortana

Another key new feature of Windows 10 not accessible Windows 8 is Cortana - Microsoft's semantic electronic assistant. A sort of super-Siri, which may engage you in the dialog. Over simple speech recognition, Cortana constantly scours the web for advice to notify its interactions with you. Plus it learns from the behavior, contacts and so forth, to be able to better fit your needs. Cortana on Windows Phone is fairly good, and it is currently on iOS and Android. Therefore that the addition of Microsoft's digital helper is a large boost over Windows 8.

Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1: Pairing

Though it was the largest overhaul of this OS since Windows 95, Windows 8 has been unusually secure and bug-free from the get-go. Really we had it operating on regular work programs six months prior to launch. Windows 10 was, to put it charitably, a bit wobblier. Microsoft is frequently issuing updates for your applications, but these updates frequently lead to difficulties. It looks like every couple of months, there are reports of accidental file deletions, glitches, crashes and other various errors. General stability is definitely better than it had been, but the simple fact that these mistakes persist is bothersome. Thus far, we have not seen any bugs that we would believe sufficient to justify downgrading to a previous version of Windows, however, it must be stated that reliability is not Windows 10's strong suit - and it does not seem like it ever is. On the flip side, Windows 10 Enterprise users may cut out a good deal of the hassle - that we will discuss more in a moment - meaning it is not so much of a problem.

Action Center

Windows 8 Windows Store programs might not have been a joy to use on appropriate PCs, but one crucial benefit they stored rocked my socks: System-wide notifications. Where conventional desktop software will become self-explanatory silos, Windows Store programs will take you a pop-up telling at the upper-right corner of the display when, say, you receive a new email or some fresh direct message from Twitter. If you visit them, that is. Following a notification pops up in Windows 8, then it disappears into the ether, never to be viewed or summoned. It's true that you could theoretically view missed notifications in their programs' individual Live Tiles on the beginning screen, but that hangs out there? Windows 10 cures the ailing with the debut of its new Action Center, which looks in the right-hand facet of the taskbar. Missed notifications will live there until you discount then huzzah! . You will also find quick-action buttons that enable you to quickly manage Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, input Tablet Mode, and much more.

Windows 10 appears to provide essentially no appropriate performance benefit over Windows 8 mainstream evaluations, but let us not be overly negative--since there is no reason to be. Together with Windows 7, Microsoft updated the schedule for the way the OS coped with CPUs, which guaranteed improvements and battery lifetime economies for both Intel and AMD CPUs. That was not a check-off thing for Windows 10. Since Windows 8.1 performances were very great.

There are also some improvement from 8.1 to win10 with backup and previous version which you can restore you deleted file more easily. When you didn’t turn on the backup, try this tip how to recover deleted files windows 8 and hope you have a good luck!

And, let's not forget that Windows 10 ushers at DirectX 12, which should very much yield substantial performance increases in games that support it.

[nextlevelguydotcom]

Episode #145 Nick Koumalatsos on how to utilize the special ops mindset in your everyday life

Today’s guest is Nick Koumalatsos! 

There is no better time for men to be: focused, vigilant, and healthy than right now. Nick Koumalatsos is a Husband, Father, Author, Marine Raider, Recon Marine, founder of The Agoge, and serial business builder with his partner Alison Capra.

Nick’s goal is to inspire, educate and teach men the tools and steps to move forward in fitness, business, and relationships; and challenge you to become the best version of yourself! On his podcast, you will find No BS just straightforward talk from patriots, freedom fighters, and industry professionals from all walks of life.

In this interview, we discuss:

How to utilize the special ops mindset in your everyday life.

How you can build a warrior mindset every day.

How to achieve goals like a Spec Operative 

And so much more! 

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on:

Your starting point is never your finishing points. Nick was behaving badly when he was younger but changed his life around and is now successful. Just because you are at a low point, it doesn't need to be your final stop on your journey in life, jsut ap it stop.

Life has become soft, or at least we have allowed ourselves to become soft, we need to find challenge and purpose in our life again.

Look at challenges as an opportunity to learn, to grow and develop yourself. Reframe the threat as an opportunity and it will help you become more mentally confident and resilient. 

To get a Warrior mindset, you need to do hard things in your life. You need to challenge yourself, you need to fail and learn from the mistakes, you need to go through trials and tribulations and weather the storm. 

Every minute you have a choice to step up or shrink back, to go for it or hide from it. You can change your life right now, you just need to decide and go for it. 

Adopt Nicks's 'Always Forward' into our life, just learn from mistakes, get back up after being knocked down and you will get there.

When making new habits in your life, you need to start small and grow. Use the small wins to improve yourself and your confidence and let the success snowball into an avalanche of success in your life. 

You need to break large goals down into smaller, manageable targets, that you can track and measure, to better increase your chance of success. 

Focus on your daily goals - what do you need to do each day to achieve your overall goals? Take each day one day at a time, and build a routine so you can focus on your goals, and work towards them each day. 

No plan survives first contact, you need to learn to pivot and adapt towards success. 

Don't let your 'MayDay Trigger' stop you, shit will hit the fan and things will go wrong, but learn from it and restart. Don't let a situation derailing spiral into a whirlwind of despair and affect more days. Stop, reset and restart.

The selection process never ends - never rest on your laurels, the mission of life never ends. 

Quitting at something puts a limit on your life - what would you rather, work hard or have regrets? 

Don't complain about it ... work for it and achieve it! 

You need to ask yourself: What do you value in life? What do you want to achieve? What are your goals? What are your priorities in life? Make sure your daily life matches the goals and your priorities in your life. Then fix your routine to help you work towards your goals and priorities. 

Train to be at your best, in tough situations you will fall back to the highest level of your training, and not rise to the situation. Challenge yourself daily so that you will be mentally and physically ready, experienced in tough situations and ready to soar and not sink. 

You have to enjoy the journey in life, there is no final destination. 

Growth happens outside your comfort zone.

Nick is always looking to challenge himself every year, by doing something new, by trying new things and learning and growing. What can you do every year, every month and day to grow, learn, and push yourself out of your comfort zone to achieve your goals. 

Everyone is figuring it out as they go, stop being so hard on yourself. 

Find coaches, gyms, teachers etc that will help you cut the learning curve, remove a lot of the mistakes and help you on the way. Stop trying to do it all yourself, hack the system and source the people and knowledge you need to level up your success. 

Look stupid and ask questions! Don't be afraid to ask for help, for guidance and support ... don't let your masculinity or fear of looking stupid stop you on your journey! Don't let your pride and ego stop you progressing on your journey in life. 

Find your why in life. Don't sacrifice your journey for your family, use your family as a motivation to become a better man and use them to inspire you to become a better man every day! Be the role model that you wanted in your life, and be that for your kids and other men in your life, be the role model that you wanted for others. Be the teacher, provider, protector etc that you wanted, and inspire the next generation of men. Be the best version of ourselves for them.

Check out this episode!

[returnn-of-the-mac]

This is part 3 of the original prompt. I tried to get into the whole “reteaching Sole how to walk” process, but it was kinda slow and not going anywhere, so I did it this way which is kinda similar. It’s the closest I could get to the original prompt that would still be entertaining, so hopefully you like it! Also, I tried to make Cait’s part is fluffier—as you requested— but I still had to keep her in-character. So much like the issue I sometimes have with Gage (and sometimes Danse/MacCready) it’s “fluffy” for her character, but not the standard definition of “fluffy.” Anyway. Please enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

FO4 Companions React: Sole Losing Leg To a Mirelurk (Part 3)

After long few hours, Sole and their companion were finally able to find a medical expert. When they arrived at the location, Sole was taken into an operating room to have their severed leg disinfected and the prosthetic limb attached.

...

Two days passed before the procedure was complete. On the afternoon of the second day, Sole was eager to see their companion again. They lifted themself off the bed with some assistance from their doctor and made their way to the waiting room to meet up with their partner:

MacCready:

MacCready was reading comic books when he saw Sole standing in the doorway. He stood up and grinned.

Hey, not too shabby,” he complimented, studying Sole’s new prosthetic limb, “Just throw some pants over it and you won’t even be able to tell the difference.”

Sole clumsily stumbled over to their companion, causing him to smile faintly. “We’ve gotta work on walking though. That’s gonna be the fun part.”

The ex-Gunner held out his hand and Sole graciously accepted the gesture, “It’s gonna be like teaching Duncan how to walk all over again.”

Cait:

An exhausted Cait lay sloppily sprawled in an armchair when she saw her friend peek though the door. She smirked.

“Let’s see that new leg.”

Sole shyly turned to their side, revealing the synthetic limb.

“Ah, come on, now. It doesn’t look bad, darlin. I think yer worryin too much,” she paused, “But how’s the walkin?”

Sole blushed and their companion approached them, her arm outstretched.

“C’mon. Who do ye expect te get better without practicin?”

Sole continued to hesitate and Cait put her hands on her hips.

“That’s what I’m here for, yeah? To help ye. Cuz that’s that’s what friends do. Ye helped me, now I help ye. It’s only fair.”

Sole sighed, accepting their companion’s hand, and Cait beamed.

“Glad we’re seein eye-te-eye now, ye? Now let me help ye walk before I drive myself mad.”

Preston:

Preston was tuning into Radio Freedom when he noticed Sole standing in the doorway. He quickly put away his radio and gently smiled.

“How are you feeling, General? Better,” He asked, “Do you need anything? Nuka Cola? Noodle cup?”

Sole attempted to make their way over to a purified water sitting our on a nearby table, but tripped. They swiftly grabbed onto a painting, preventing themself from hitting the ground.

“Easy there! I can get that for you,” the Minuteman reassured, bouncing over to the table to retrieve the water for Sole. “You’re gonna have to take baby steps when learning to walk again. Don’t worry, General. I’ll help you out.”

Danse:

Danse was staring blankly into the distance, thinking, when suddenly the door creaked open and he snapped back into reality. He studied his companion— careful not to draw attention to their leg—as they hesitantly stood in the doorway.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, soldier. Did you want to return to Spectacle Island?”

Sole nodded as they struggled to make their way over to the Paladin.

Danse’s eyebrows furrowed. “Actually, maybe you should take it easy for a few days. I know that’s certainly not what you want to hear, but your well-being is important. I can help you regain your leg strength.”

Sole shook their head stubbornly and continued to make their way toward Danse. They fell facedown.

Danse sighed and helped Sole to their feet. He locked eyes with them and talked to them sternly. “This isn’t a joke. You’ve got to follow instructions, soldier. Staying behind until you’re fit again? That’s an order. I can’t allow you to put yourself in harm’s way. It just wouldn’t be right.”

Hancock:

Hancock was stealthily taking hits of jet when Sole peeked out from behind the door. Knowing the doctor was probably not far behind, the ghoul quickly shoved the chems up his sleeve.

“How’re ya doing, [brother/sister]? How’s the new leg treating ya?”

Sole took a few steps in their friend’s direction, wobbling uncontrollably.

“Chill out there, speedy. This ain’t a race,” the ghoul reminded, “You have to slow down and take things day-by-day now. One step at a time— literally.”

A frustrated Sole continued to push forward, nearly tripping over themself in the process.

“C’mon. I know that’s not what ya wanna hear, but you’ve gotta listen to me. Take things slow,” Hancock pressed, “I struggle with that too, friend. Why do ya think I’m hooked on jet and mentats. I’ll tell ya: it helps me mellow out. It sucks, but you’ve gotta chill. Ya need some chems? I’ve got some. I’ve got no problem sharing. You’ve just gotta take my word on this one.”

Deacon:

Deacon was in the middle of changing his outfit when Sole pushed the doors open.

“Would you look who it is,” Deacon announced, changing his tone to imitate an announcer, “It’s the amazing, bionic, 200-year-old Vault Dweller! And they were so eager to see me that they couldn’t even wait for me to put clothes on!”

A flustered Sole tried to walk, only to stumble forward and catch themself on a chair. Deacon’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Having a little trouble there, pal?”

Sole shook their head, unwilling to admit defeat. They pulled themself up and tried again, this time falling to the ground with a loud thud. A concerned Deacon approached them, offered a hand, and helped them to their feet.

“Easy there, killer. Don’t you go breaking your cool new robo-leg. Besides, do you really want a naked guy escorting you back into the operating room,” he joked, “You’re probably going to have to learn how to walk again. Don’t worry about it though, I’ve got your back.”

Piper:

Piper was munching on some candy when Sole came out of the operating room. She immediately flung her bag of treats to the side.

“How’re you feeling Blue,” Piper asked gently, “Better?”

Sole shrugged and slowly made their way over to the reporter, struggling with every step.

“That sure is an awkward new walking style you got there,” Piper giggled, “You may need some help with your coordination— at least temporarily. I’d be glad to help you out!”

Sole shook their head and continued fumbling over to their companion. Four clumsy steps later, Sole toppled over face-first.

Piper rolled her eyes before sprinting up to Sole and helping them up.

“You’re so stubborn. I understand you don’t want help, but you seriously need it. Besides, that’s what friends do, right? Help each other out?”

Curie:

Curie was reading a burnt fashion magazine when Sole peeked around the doors. When the synth saw them, she set the book down and grinned widely.

“[Madame/Monsieur], I’m so happy to see you up and moving. Are you feeling better?”

Sole nodded and took a step forward, only to trip over their own feet and stumble. They caught themself on the doorframe before they fell to the ground.

Curie gasped and rushed over to her friend.

“Oh my! Are you okay?”

Curie offered her hand to Sole and they accepted. She smiled and slowly led them out to the waiting room.

“It looks like you’re going to require some walking lessons. It’s alright; I’d be pleased to assist you, [Madame/Monsieur]!”

X6-88:

X6 was reading a book when Sole opened the doors. The Courser stood up and cautiously approached his companion.

“Feeling better, [sir/ma’am]?”

Sole approached the synth, hyper-aware of every step they were taking. When they were about two feet from their friend, Sole tripped.

X6 frowned and held his hand out. A disoriented Sole accepted and quickly stood up, embarrassed.

“I would highly recommend attending physical therapy until you have made a full recovery,” X6 advised, “It would be beneficial.”

Sole stubbornly shook their head.

“You don’t want to risk another serious injury,” the synth pressed, “Besides, it is my duty to assist you. That is what Father expects me to do, and that is what I want to do.”

Nick:

Nick was flipping through cases when he heard the doors to the operating room creak open. He promptly tucked his file folder into his jacket and stood up.

“How’re you doing, champ? That was a hell of a procedure you just went through.”

Sole slowly pushed through the doors and waddled to their companion. Nick frowned, concerned.

“Careful, you don’t to put too much pressure on your new leg immediately. You should ease into walking with it.”

Nick held out his hand and Sole accepted it. He slowly guided them over to the waiting room seats where he had been sitting.

“I don’t want you to get mangled up again. I’ll stay here with you as long as you need to stay here. I want you to make a full recovery, friend.”

Longfellow:

Longfellow was tying knots with some scrap rope when he saw Sole struggling through the doors of the operating room.

“Woah there, easy,” he advised, “Don’t overwork that leg! Gotta test the waters first before committing to the voyage.”

Sole took a few steps forward before rapidly grabbing hold of a nearby table to stable themself.

“Nothing wrong with temporarily anchoring, kiddo. Better safe than sorry.”

Sole continued to try to walk, but was struggling. Longfellow finally decided to intervene.

“Maybe you’re trying to do too much with that leg right now. Why don’t you rest until you’re healthy again and then we can work on your walking together?”

Sole reluctantly agreed as they took a seat beside their friend.

Gage:

Gage was sipping a Nuka Cola when he saw Sole slowly making their way out of the operating room.

“Boss, you’re walkin kinda funny. Is that cuz of the new leg?”

Sole nodded and showed the raider their new prosthetic limb.

“Yo that’s sick, boss. It’s pretty much all metal. You can kick some serious ass with that thing. Damn.”

Sole nodded and took a step forward, falling face first in the process.

Gage chuckled. “Won’t kick much of anything if ya don’t work on yer walking though. Might as well practice while yer in a Doc’s office, right?”