loneleeghost

[loneleeghost]

jaal - i'm in a debate with my friend about Ghoulcy. YOU'RE A SMART COOKIE, HELP ME WITH THIS ARGUMENT. why does Ghoulcy work even though the Ghoul has done terrible things both to others and to Lucy, and why can it be more than just a mentor/student

One word.

Growth.

That's it, isn't it? It's what keeps us going, and therefore our fictional counterparts.

For starters, mentor/student dyanmic would place Lucy in an immediate sidekick role; think Batman and Robin. And this just isn't viable due to Lucy clearly being one of the three main characters. Secondly, the narrative is entirely based around transformation and choice. And good god have you seen the Fallout TV Season 2 trailer?

Shit is nothin' but tension.

Now I'm not saying there is no mentor/student dyanmic between Ghoulcy; but where does it become evident? Where does it shine through where it is not drenched in something else? "Oh! But he sold her for organs! For parts! She bit off his finger! He cut off her finger in return!"

And he sewed her finger onto him.

"Now that right there is the closest thing we’ve had to an honest exchange so far."

The Ghoul keeps the finger. That is a loaded, grotesque subtexual element. It is a bizzarre form of intimacy. And hot, we can't forget that people.

It's likely he did not intend at first to sew it onto him, and I'm well in the boat that The Ghoul had zero intention of romance, connection, nor even attraction up until Lucy did not leave him for dead; she gave him rad-away.

Radiation King: A Ghoul who requires radiation to stay alive, to not transform into something worse than what he already pereceives himself to be. Lucy offers him that; his rad-away. She bestows that chance onto him. Atomic Queen: A woman who is considered quite a small thing in a large world. She is nothing. Almost no-one. But she's not. She is atomic in a much grander scheme. Specifically to now, him. Ever had a dream of someone and when you wake up you can never quite see them the same? Yeah.

Think of the fact that after this exchange, he reminisces by watching his old mortal self on the television set.

Ghoulcy feels romantic because the story codes their bond as transformative. A mentor/student reading would emphasize hierarchy and instruction, but what we see instead is two flawed people drawn together in ways that blur all possible lines and concepts together. Their partnership/relationship grows from tension and choice, not instruction and obedience.

Ghoul: Now you’re getting it. How does that Golden Rule jibe with what’s going through your head right now?” Lucy: “What are you?” Ghoul: “Oh, I’m you, sweetie. You just give it a little time.”

Understanding the nuance of the Ghoulcy ship is primairly digestable to people who understand or relate to wanting to be loved/cared for at their worst, to be aided through their trauma, and not to be seen as something in need of fixing.

See me as I am and not for who I could be.

🤝

[loneleeghost]

dogmeat is gonna be third-wheeling whatever the hell they have going on trust

[loneleeghost]

and when Cooper sees her in the yellow dress????

WHAT THEN????????????????

[loneleeghost]

badass woman protecting her man or whatever idk

[loneleeghost]

cute first date idea: getting chased by a deathclaw <3

[loneleeghost]

oh im gonna throw up.

[loneleeghost]

I wake a way too early and I had huge need to draw them. This is my first doodle of them.

[loneleeghost]

[loneleeghost]

LOVE THIS SOOO MUCH!! MY HEART 💔

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Fallout (TV 2024) Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Cooper Howard | The Ghoul/Lucy MacLean Characters: Cooper Howard | The Ghoul, Lucy MacLean, Janey Howard (Fallout TV), Barb Howard (Fallout TV) Additional Tags: Ghoul!Lucy, Established Relationship, Angst, no happy ending, Feral ghoul characteristics, Mild Sexual Content, Suicide, big sad, Post-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence Summary:

—“You’re giving up your pretty ‘future of America’ for a monst—” —She grasped him at the back of the neck, nails biting in with warning. “We’re in the new world, and this is how I want to walk in it. With you.” —In the growing heat, with the rads churning around them and through Lucy’s blood, Cooper bent to the imagined taste of chems on her tongue.

After all is said and done with their families and with Vault-Tec, Lucy chooses to ghoulify herself to be with Cooper. For 40 years, they work their way through the wasteland, as civilization blooms again. A job gone wrong lands them in an abandoned vault with no escape. As their vials run out and they skid toward feral, Lucy, ever determined, won’t take the last one.

A vault was the refuge Cooper was denied, and a vault was where Lucy was to spend her entire life. They chose the surface together, but this vault will be their mausoleum—a last choice made hand-in-hand.

——

May I present some abject sadness for the angst connoisseurs?

For @loneleeghost, whose beautiful art was the inspiration.

[loneleeghost]

ok so... i have this headcanon...

[loneleeghost]

mr. radiation king and mrs. atomic queen 🤵👰

inspired by this j frederick smith painting/illustration:

[loneleeghost]

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH 🥰

something sacred

Ghoulcy Week: Prompt 4 - Finger For A Finger

[loneleeghost]

the last vial...

[loneleeghost]

“true that love in withdrawal was the weeping of me”

[loneleeghost]

TELL ME IM WRONG, I DARE YOU

[loneleeghost]

an ol’ cowpoke and his starlet

[loneleeghost]

*enters ghoulcy tag*

here’s some food you heathens