#aith art rambles

[aith-art]

Is Danse a Synth Replacement?

This is just a ramble/ me weighing my personal evidence for and against Danse being a Synth replacement because I keep seeing contradicting opinions on it

So Personally I don't think Danse was a replacement for someone because it adds more weight to his story and everything around the discovery if what Maxson says about him being a spy/sleeper agent for the institute isn't true. it wouldn't matter to Maxson because it's a risk he cannot take and Danse has to suffer with knowing that someone he called a friend has completely abandoned him so quickly. (Which could easily be twisted into an allegory for being trans or queer)

I think the evidence for him being a replacement in my head is interesting. his early memories of Rivit City - the last known location of Dr Zimmer. Alternatively, he was replaced while out in the commonwealth before the BoS arrived. My counterpoint to this is that the institute couldn't have known that the BoS would be such a problem for them. (Maybe Dr Li said something but I doubt it). generally, I think people believe he's a replacement because Maxson insists he is.

Danse not being a replacement also means he joins the BoS out of his own free will and his faith in them was 100% genuine. It adds to the tragedy of his story and his becoming disillusioned with the BoS / Being killed by someone he had so much faith in.

but in the end, this is all personal speculation on a somewhat poorly written plot point and character without a well-thought-out arch.

[the-galaxys--local-catgirl]

One day I will make a post about mb's backstory, specifically stuff 2 do with his life before being the mafia's factory's janitor,,, one day

[aith-art]

ED-E head cannons.

ED-E will play music while traveling more than just the battle music he plays - eyebots were originally designed to be mobile radios and tvs and while a lot of ed-es tech was removed during the duraframe program Whitley still ensured he had a stereo system

ED-E has already met the courier before the game starts. This is one that I've been thinking on for a while. So basically when the courier accidentally (or not) destroyed hopeville and The Divide, the piece of technology that they used was ED-E. Is there evidence of this in the Canon of the game - eh a little bit. The ED-E in the lonesome Road dlc is one of the bigger pieces of evidence because it has the memory files of Mojave ED-E and its never really explained - as far as I'm aware - as to why there is a replica of ED-E in that missile silo without him having been there before, with the courier. This also helps to justify Ulysess hatred for ED-E. Hatred maybe to strong a word and it could be justified as the tech from when the divide was destroyed just made him hate technology - but if that were true would he have found a way to communicate with the courier in a different fashion. This also explains how the technology spoke, though that could have been Ulysess using a metaphor of some kind.

[aith-art]

Stupid question here, is Jules gender-fluid?

Yes.

It's one of those thing I kept forgetting to put at the top of my posts, but yes

Jules is Gender Fluid (they/she/he)

And I know you didn't ask about my other ocs but it makes sense to clarify in one post.

Izzy (Icarus) is trans Masc (he/they)

Leroy's cis (he/him)

Dana is cis (she/her)

[aith-art]

Companions during the 2nd Battle of Hoover Dam

A small(ish) collection of headcannons for where the fallout NV companions are during the battle of Hoover Dam when fighting alongside the NCR - all but Legion Ending

Arcade

Arcade is wherever he heds up after his quest. And so is either in freeside or with the Remenants. If his quest isn't complete he's just in freeside by default helping folks in the chaos.

Cass

Cass fights alongside the Courier at the front no matter what choice they make for who gets Vegas once the Legion are defeated. She's at the front with her shotgun. (I haven't played with her much I don't know from memory what gun she uses)

Lily

Fights at the frontlines alongside the Courier weather she's taking her medication or not. She sweeps down legionaries off of the dam at one point or another.

Boone

Boone uses his best skill at its fullest. Boone takes a sniper post above the dam and helps by picking of legionaries from above with the other NCR snipers.

Rex and ED-E (lumping them together for ease)

Both are by the Couriers side during the battle. They have an unspoken competition to see who can take down the most legionaries. It ends with ED-E winning and being a sore winner for a shot time

From here they get slightly more conditional dependant on personal quests and in Veronica's case story choices

Raul

If the courier has done his quest and he's reinbraced his inner gunslinger he will be with the courier on the front lines, if not he will be by the visitors centre holding off any Legion that may get through while repairing any guns he's given. I imagine he's set up a workbench of sorts

Veronica

If the courier destroyed the BoS Veronica will not fight with them at the front lines, she instead channels her energy into helping the followers of the apocalypse in freeside.

However if the BoS survives she will be willing to fight alongside the Courier at the front.

If the bos are still alive but she decides to leave them after he quest she will either help Arcade in freeside where she can or be an assist to the field medics by being their last line of defence.

This has been something I contemplated for longer than I thought as all headcannons are. The idea that all of the companions would of course be at doing something during Hoover Dam.

[aith-art]

Yeehawgust 2023 - A supplemental

This is just a quick stream-of-consciousness post about my experience writing with a month themed prompt list.

I've never done one of these before and it was really nice to have an active reason to write. I've loved taking part in this and plan on going back through everything I've written this month and posting the coherent segments of Leroy's timeline onto Ao3. Along with some of the moments for Jules and their alternate selves. Because of these prompts, I've discovered so much about the characters I've created and most of them have gained their own personalities.

It's been great to write something throughout this month and it's been a great way to deal with my stresses and explore some of my personal struggles through the abstract view of these characters.

[aith-art]

Further rambles about Jules in fo4 across Phia and Dana's timelines.

Brotherhood of Steel adition

In both, Jules has a rocky relationship with the BoS. Being related to the original leader and then being a direct sibling of Arthur Maxson puts a lot of tension between her and the BoS.

In Dana's timeline, Jules is more cautious of them from word go. In the Captial wasteland, the woman who raised her (whom I am calling her mom though they are not biologically related) instilled a distrust for the Brotherhood in Jules from a young age. Jules is taught to work alongside them but not to trust them. This is due to his mom's Enclave background and the shady reasons that she has Jules in the first place. This distrust is made worse when Jules believes no effort is being made to try and save his mom, and they tell him the truth about his family.

By nv Jules is suspicious of the Brotherhood but trying to come to terms with the reality that she is a blood decendant of the original Maxson. When she littoral stumbles across the bos Bunker and gets the bomb collar straped to her, their mixed feelings begin to solidify in a dislike of the bos. They convince Veronica that leaving the bos is the best thing for her. When House orders Jules to destroy the bos she complies but it still hurts as she knows not everyone in there deserves death. The destruction of the bucket fractions Jules close friendship with Veronica and that isn't even slightly resolved until after dead money where Jules finds V and tells her everything - including about Christine cause why would they not tell V about her.

Their feelings towards the BoS don't get any better when they make it to the Commonwealth. When the Brotherhood arrive in fo4 Jules is arrested and brought before Maxson for questioning. He tries to bring her back into their ranks, but she outright refuses and is allowed to leave. As he leaves, he's warned that they are now under the supervision of the bos and could be dragged back whenever. When Dana starts 'picking up the slack' from having been running around the wasteland, Jules uncomfortably agrees to help her. After Dana has made it to the Institute, Jules is once again captured by the BoS, and Maxson threatens him into assisting the BoS. Jules basically says fuck that and dips at their fist chance. Going and completing a load of side quests. They're absent for bb, but when they find out what happened, all their hatred for the bos is solidified, and they stop caring. Post bb also sees Dana switch sides to the Railroad. When the Prydwen is destroyed, Jules is with Dana and feels remorseful for the extreme loss of life but doesn't really care about their destruction.

In contrast, in Phia's timeline, Jules is too young in fo3 to have her mom's ideology as instilled in her and so places more trust in the Brotherhood. She still gets disorientated when told the truth and that no rescue attempt would be made.

When they get to the Mojave, no I haven't worked out how just yet, they find the bos through Veronica and so don't have the step of mistrust. They help out the bos and David's plan for independent vegas means that Jules doesn't have to kill them all. They do all end up being killed by David when Jules is 16-17 as they attempt to take over Vegas - this is important.

When Jules makes it to fo4, word of the mojave chapters destruction has made it to the Easter chapter, and Jules return from the west places suspicion on them. When the bos make it to the Commonwealth, she is interrogated over this and states she knew nothing about it. Due to her lack of reason to be distrustful of the bos, he rejoins their ranks but finds themself butting heads with people over their hateful rhetoric. He does work on the side to help those who are hurt by the bos and before the destruction of the institute she officially leaves the bos and becomes a freelancer doing odd jobs for the minutemen, Valentine and Goodneighbor.

[aith-art]

I need to ramble about Jules, and Tumblr is going to be my soundboard.

So Jules exists in 2 versions of the world. My Phea world and Dana's world. Jules' core character doesn't change between the two. However, there are some key differences that help with the stories of the S.S they share a world with.

In Dana's world, where most of what I create about jules currently takes place. Jules is older. Around 22, when they get shot by Benny and are 28 by Fo4. This makes them the older sibling to Maxson and 18 when they run with the Lone Wanderer Reese. They end up adopting Dana, but the key character aspect in this story is Jules' relationship with the other characters. Jules has a far greater sibling bond with the likes of Hancock and those in Goodneighbour as well as her littoral sibling relationship to Maxson. This is critical as she mirrors Dana's search for her sibling and the betrayal felt by that sibling believing in and leading a group that outwardly doesn't care about the people Dana and Jules consider family. This makes for a wonderful found family idea and the idea that Dana and then Synth! Shaun are raised by a community of people, but Jules is the 'parent'. In this story, Jules gets to see what he never got in their relationship to Maxson through helping Dana and S!Shaun.

In terms of how this universe affects New Vegas. This one is post a House playthrough, in which Jules feels she betrayed everyone they care about, the companions, by putting house in control and tries to redeem it by continuing to help communities and that want to fix the mistake is drawn into the dlcs and then her life with Dana. Jules goes through the nv dlcs doing the best he can to help the people there and having to then sacrifice ED-E when they realise that some mistakes can not be fixed but should not be erased. This motivates them to begin their journey home - towards the East Coast.

The contrast of this is in Phia's world.

Jules is the twin of Maxson and only 14 when they get shot in the head. And they aren't the only courier. In this Universe David, a ghoul who works security for the Chairman and has a fling with Benny, watches Jules get shot and decided to help them. Jules ends up with a more found family as the child relationship to the companions in nv, and that continues to Fo4. This is an idependant vegas run, and when Jules leaves the Mojave their 18 and looking for Maxson.

By fo4, Jules is only 20 and is more zany and energetic. Though at their core, they still fight for honour and personal justice and the general betterment of peoples lives, the lack of personal responsibility leaves them more reckless and aloof. They end up with slightly more of the parent child relationship with the companions and meet Phia while working a case for Valentine. In this world, Jules reflects Phia's younger self, someone who's careless with their life and always putting others first despite the consequences.