#ghoul breeding program

[cirrus-ghoulette]

i'm so sorry but your ghoul breeding program has wormed its way into my brain and refuses to leave

i'm having thots about raindrop meeting for the first time during a session. dew in rut, expecting one of the usual tease ghouls from around the ministry. his brain short-circuiting when he sees rain for the first time, gets hit with his sweet scent. dew's never cum so much in his life, watching the new water ghoul, but it doesn't help. his rut doesn't break, because it needs the ghoul.

so later that night, dew follows the ghoul's scent down the hall to track him down. when he knocks on the bedroom door, dew freezes, his brain finally catching up to his actions. this is so inappropriate—they don't even know each other's names. what if the ghoul doesn't want him? can he take that rejection?

but he needn't have worried. when the ghoul opens the door and sees who it is, his face lights up. rain doesn't even have to ask, he knows what dew is here for, and drags him inside. the two of them immediate fall into each other. and when they finally pull themselves apart long enough for rain to get on his hands and knees and present, when dew slots behind him and pushes in, it feels like coming home. when it comes time for dew to knot rain, he insists on doing it face-to-face. because they need to look into each other's eyes. to see the connection that had formed at the very first moment, even before they realized it themselves

and that's how the two of them meet for the first time :)

(sorry for being unhinged in your ask box, the brain rot is terminal, you have to understand)

GAAAHHHH THIS IS AMAZING

Also, never apologise for being unhinged in my ask box! I love people sending me headcanons!

[nightingaelic]

Things that are Now Fallout Canon

(according to the Special LIVE Report from Galaxy News that preceded the Fallout TV series' teaser trailer release on December 2, 2023)

Vault 33, the focus vault of the Fallout television series, is located beneath Santa Monica, California. It's also implied to be very, very expensive to get into.

Bottle and Cappy, the mascots for Nuka-Cola and its theme park, Nuka-World, were about to embark on a seventeen-movie-long series of animated films before the bombs fell.

The sinking of the RMS Titanic happened in Fallout's alternate universe. The news announcer jokes about the world going down like the infamous ship, including the deadly lack of lifeboats.

Camels exist in this universe, too! The news announcer actually fucks this one up, because he says dromedary camels have two humps - dromedary camels have one hump, while Bactrian camels have two. Or maybe we'll get a sound bite from Todd Howard in a few months where he claims the camel breed names are swapped in Fallout, who knows.

Pets were not allowed in the commercially-advertised vaults. The news announcer regrettably informs listeners that they can't bring their cats, dogs, or even fish with them due to logistical concerns and safety hazards, but they are more than welcome to purchase Vault-Tec-branded gravestones and hold pet funerals before they move underground. Hypothetically-speaking, it wouldn't surprise me if people tried to smuggle their animals in, anyway.

Someone stole the Fallout universe's original moon landing flag from the Museum of Technology in Washington, D.C. - another headline report, with no further details. It was in the same exhibit as the Virgo II lunar lander, which stayed put for at least 200 years.

Vault Boy was named "World's Sexiest Man" in 2077 (when the report is being aired) - no word about which publication or organization bestowed this title upon an animated mascot.

Vault-Tec trademarked the thumbs-up emoji in the Fallout universe - which is very much in character for the company, but something about there being emojis in the world at all hit me wrong.

Vault-Tec instituted a "breeder search program" alongside vault placement purchases, and encouraged polyamory to get people to procreate (and buy more vault spots). I'll admit that this one seems plausible but shaky, because by this point in the report the news announcer is losing his mind while stalling for the vault door to open, and he might just be making shit up.

Nuka-Cola ran its own version of the Pizza Hut "BOOK IT!" reading program, called "ZAP IT!" Kids were required to read over 10,000 books to win rewards. If we use picture books for the math, and allow for five minutes to read each book, that's about 833 hours (34 straight days) of reading to get some soda.

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville and the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus both exist in the Fallout universe.

Resulting Thoughts

"The ghoul" in the show is possibly named Howard - unsure if that's a first or last name. In the teaser trailer, Walton Goggins (who plays the ghoul) is shown dressed like a Hollywood cowboy on the day of the Great War, riding a horse to try to escape the nuclear bombs that hit Los Angeles with an unidentified child. Meanwhile, the Galaxy News headlines report that a box office hit called "The Man From Deadhorse" is getting a sequel, which is currently filming at California Crest Studios, and the news announcer says the film is "Howard-led." Whether the ghoul is the lead actor, we don't know, but it seems like a solid enough hint at his origins.

I'm glad that the show is going to delve more into the idea of the haves and have-nots, what with vault entrance being both selective and expensive. The most recent games in the series don't talk about this enough, in my opinion.

This isn't specific to the show adaptation, but it's becoming more noticeable to me that the Fallout series is crawling forward in terms of relating to modernity. I'm not sure how to feel about this - for example, I don't really mind if the soundtrack of Fallout 76 features the Beach Boys and other 1960s songs when it used to be strictly limited to 1930s and 40s music. On the other hand, I thought that using a news announcer that sounds more like a modern podcast host than a Transatlantic-accented journalist was an odd choice, and as I said above, I really did not like the idea that pre-war America knows what an emoji is. I'll get over it, but I'm anticipating that there will be some more artistic choices in the adaptation (and future games) that rub me and others the wrong way because they don't fit our definition of what Fallout "is." I'm not saying anything new, people have been arguing about that forever.

Overall, I'm excited. We're probably not getting a new Fallout game until 2030, so I might as well try to enjoy this. I will be keeping my bingo cards handy, though.

Anyway, I transcribed the damn report because I'm very normal. Feel free to use!

Fallout - A Special LIVE Report from Galaxy News

with occasional commentary from yours truly

[An upbeat, strings-led orchestral jingle plays, and black-and-white picture focuses on a spinning, silver globe. The globe is being circled by a vintage toy rocket. The words "GALAXY NEWS" fly in, and are quickly wiped and replaced by script declaring "Vault-Tec Presents..." The picture is circle-wiped and transitions to a high view of a vault entrance, with no visible script or markings to indicate which vault it is. The large, circular vault door is closed, and the access bridge to the door is not connected. A timer counting down from 60 minutes is overlaid in the bottom left corner, just above the Galaxy News globe logo and a signal tower graphic next to the word "LIVE." News headlines scroll along the bottom of the screen, the first of which reads "GALAXY NEWS SIGNS 10-YEAR PARTNERSHIP DEAL WITH VAULT-TEC." The headlines are separated by small lightning bolt graphics. The music continues throughout, and a male news announcer's voice cuts in.]

Good morning! Or, afternoon! Or evening, depending on where in the world you are. If you're just tuning in with us now, you're in for a treat. Welcome to the unveiling of Vault 33, one of the flagship vaults of Vault-Tec's arsenal of vaults.

[The second scrolling headline reads "VAULT-TEC VOTED AMERICAN COMPANY WITH BRIGHTEST FUTURE."]

Galaxy News is here live with an exclusive look at the next generation of apocalypse-proof, purpose-built luxury housing, sponsored by our friends at Vault-Tec. Vault-Tec: Revolutionizing safety for an uncertain future.

[The third scrolling headline reads "ROBCO INTERPLANETARY PROBE PROBES DEEPER INTO SPACE THAN ANY PROBE HAS PROBED BEFORE."]

If you're a regular viewer of our programming, we consider you an astute, engaged citizen, doing your part to stay informed on the latest news impacting this beautiful country of ours, and so it will be no surprise to you that we are on the precipice of a nuclear armageddon. But, fear not, Vault-Tec is building the ultimate shelter-in-place solution for the more doomsday-savvy customer: A veritable ark meticulously designed to weather the geopolitical storm surely headed our way any day now. And for the first time on live broadcast, the fine folks at Vault-Tec will be giving you a tour of their newest product unveiling, from the comfort of your home.

[The announcer takes a break, and the music swells. The vault remains closed, and no activity whatsoever is visible around it. It might as well be a static image. The fourth scrolling headline reads "NUKA-WORLD BREAKS ATTENDANCE RECORD FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT YEAR. GALACTIC ZONE GIVEN CREDIT FOR INCREASED NUMBERS." The initial song ends, and a new strings song with a more staccato rhythm begins. The news announcer returns.]

Welcome, once again, to Vault 33, nestled in the coastal west side of sunny Los Angeles County, and minutes from the yet-to-be-destroyed, bustling downtown promenade. Should nuclear annihilation one day come for this quiet beach-side town, you can take comfort in knowing you are safely buried deep, deep below what numerous trade publications once called "one of the best places to live." Right now, ladies and gentlemen, what you're looking at is peace of mind. Billions and billions of dollars and decades of R&D funneled into the high-grade protection engineering that only Vault-Tec can bring you.

[The fifth scrolling headline reads "WE ASKED OUR VIEWERS TO ANSWER A SIMPLE QUESTION: WHAT IS THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH AND WHY IS IT AMERICA? HEAR THE RESULTS TONIGHT AT 10PM EST." At this point, the news announcer starts to sound less formal and more excited.]

Aren't we a bunch of lucky ducks! Vault-Tec has tapped us into their closed loop security feed to bring you a sneak peek behind a vault entrance airlock. That large, fortified steel blast door you see there is the only thing standing between you and the rads.

[The sixth scrolling headline reads "UNITED STATES AGAIN ACCUSED OF ATMOSPHERIC COUNTER-ESPIONAGE BY THE REDS."]

Very soon - very soon, I'm told - Arnold? Are we - yeah - and we're very soon, and we're very soon. Very, very soon, I'm told, that gear door will open, and Galaxy News will be on the ground to give you all a walking tour of the facilities! Including the accommodations one might expect in a state-of-the-art, modern residence thanks to a partnership with RobCo Industries and some of your shelf-stable forever favorites like BlamCo and Sugar Bombs! There's nowhere to hide from explosive good taste! Boom!

[The news announcer disappears again, and the strings conclude and are replaced with a meandering clarinet-led number. Several scrolling headlines go by: "U.S. RENEWS DEFENSE CONTRACT WITH WEST TEK, HERALDS VALUE OF POWER ARMOR IN ALL THEATERS OF WAR." "ESPIONAGE THREAT SUBDUED IN DOMESTIC URANIUM MINES." "PRESIDENT DECLARES NUCLEAR STOCKPILE 'SAFE ENOUGH.'" "BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENCES SETS DOOMSDAY CLOCK TO HALF A NANOSECOND TO MIDNIGHT." "ATLAS OBSERVATORY CHRISTENS NEW TELESCOPE, RE-COMMITTING TO A NON-VIOLENT PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE." The song ends, a new one begins, and the news announcer returns. The vault still hasn't opened, and he's dropped what was left of his professional tone.]

And we are... stalled out. We're still... having technical difficulties. You know, sometimes things go bad and there's just no way you can plan. It's kind of like what's happening with the world right now, there's no way you could've been born into the world and know how you were going to end - know how the world would end. How will the world end, in fire or in ice? Well, it turns out -

[laughter]

It turns out it's gonna be fire...

[The twelfth scrolling headline reads "CHRISTMAS TOY TRENDS: RETAILERS REPORT SHORTAGE OF POWER ARMOR FIGURINES."]

Arnold! What's that? Okay. Yes.

[sound of paper pages being flipped through]

Okay. Arnold just handed me a fun fact. We're gonna do fun facts, fun facts.

[The thirteenth scrolling headline reads "NUKA-COLA QUANTUM GETS FDA APPROVAL, FOUND TO CONTAIN 'HEALTHY AMOUNT OF RADIATION."]

Fun fact about the construction of these massive vaults: They use concrete. Hm. That hardly counts as a fun fact, Arnold. Now is there an update on when the door... the door's gonna be open? Arnold? I'm sorry, is there an update on the door? Is there an update on the crane? Is it a crane problem, or a door problem? Is it a pr- is it a crane problem, or a door problem? Arnold? Arnold! Arnie!

[sigh]

Okay...

[The news announcer gives up, and a song with a lot of muted trumpet comes in to serenade more scrolling headlines. "NO ONE'S BEATING THIS DEADHORSE. 'THE MAN FROM DEADHORSE' TOPS BOX OFFICE. A SEQUEL IS ALREADY IN THE WORKS AT CALIFORNIA CREST STUDIOS." "ATLAS WEATHER EXPERIMENT BELIEVED TO BE THE CAUSE OF UNEXPECTED SNOW FLURRY IN LOS ANGELES." "DEVELOPING: REDS CONTINUES TO DENY EXISTENCE OF STEALTH SUBMARINES, US INTELLIGENCE SUGGESTS OTHERWISE." Woodwinds replace the trumpet, and the news announcer returns, pivoting to an unrehearsed sales pitch for his sponsor.]

If you have the money, please - please, guys - get a Vault-Tec vault. Get in there! Think of it as a life raft, a bit. Our country is the Titanic, and these vaults are the life rafts - right? - attached to the side of it.

[The seventeenth scrolling headline reads "NUKA-COLA MASCOTS 'BOTTLE AND CAPPY' TO APPEAR IN ANIMATED FILM FROM CALIFORNIA CREST STUDIOS. WILL BE THE FIRST IN A SEVENTEEN PICTURE DEAL BETWEEN THE COMPANIES."]

Now, were there enough life rafts on the Titanic? If you remember - no, no there weren't enough, and so many, many people died, and so, it's a nice allegory actually, because they're not going to die in the freezing ocean, which would be - actually, it's a little faster to die by fire than it is by drowning in the cold, so it is kind of an advantage to be dying now, th- rather than on the Titanic, the RMS Titanic.

[The eighteenth scrolling headline reads "SUPPLY LINES FOR RED FORCES BREAKING DOWN." Sort of like this announcer. He pivots again.]

Now - can you call a survivor of a nuclear holocaust a person, anymore? I don't know. Their brain is going to be cottage cheese, and they will be crawling... crawling on the ground, stuffing sand in their mouth, their blind eyes melted out, like the white of an egg, just dripping and dribbling out of their eye sockets.

[The nineteenth scrolling headline reads "VAULT-TEC ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF VAULT 33 UNDER SANTA MONICA, CA."]

They raise their face towards their... god... and scream, "Nooooo! Whyyyyyy! What did it all mean?" It turns out it didn't mean much if you didn't get a spot in a Vault-Tec vault."

[The twentieth scrolling headline reads "MILITARY UNITS SENT TO QUELL UNREST IN SEVERAL STATES."]

"Now, let's talk about the luxury interiors of Vault-Tec vaults. We have camel leather. You've heard of cow leather. Probably. Camel leather is a great deal softer, isn't it? It comes from the camel, who keep their water on their backs in a hump. Sometimes two, if they're a dromedary. Now, let's talk about camel leather and why it is more supple, and why it is cooler to the touch, and we can talk about it forever but what you want is luxury, what you need is safety: Where you go is Vault-Tec. That's it.

[I feel like I need to point out that dromedary camels only have one hump, and no camels store water in their humps: It's actually just fat up there that they can live off of while traversing deserts. Regardless, the announcer is gone again. The scrolling headlines remain. "NUKA CORP SPINS OFF ATOMIC RESEARCH ARM INTO SEPARATE CORPORATE ENTITY AFTER SEC APPROV." "SUPER DUPER MART ANNOUNCES RECALL OF BLAMCO MAC & CHEESE FOR TRACE AMOUNTS OF DAIRY." "VAULT-TEC STOCKS SOAR AS US ECONOMY BECOMES FEAR-BASED." "BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND LASERS TAKE DOWN NATIONWIDE WEAPONS SMUGGLING RING." Another woodwind-heavy song starts up, and so does our announcer.]

Um... Arnold?

[throat clearing]

Arnie! Can we- do- do we have a- can we start a clock? Can we - is there, like, anything we can do? I feel like people need something to hold onto, there's a lot of empty air. There's a lot of dead air, here. People need something to hold onto, people are freaking out, and I'm freaking out because I like to have - I like to bring people comfort - uh, in, in this crazy time. There's, there's only a few things you can predict -

[laughter]

In - in the world, and uh, I thought that opening the vault on time would be one of those things.

[The twenty-fifth scrolling headline reads "MILITARY SETS THREAT LEVEL OF POSSIBLE BIOLOGICAL WEAPON ATTACK FROM REDS TO HIGH."]

I was kind of counting on it as a - a thing that would bring some amount of normalcy, some amount of comfort. Something happening the way it's supposed to in a world that feels like it has been turned upside down by evil. But, unfortunately that is not the case. Here we are. Another thing we don't know. Another thing we have to grapple with.

[The twenty-sixth scrolling headline reads "TEDDY FEAR MANUFACTURER SETTLES CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, DENIES TOY BEAR CAUSES SLEEP PARALYSIS NIGHTMARES IN CHILDREN."]

This particular vault and these technical difficulties that we're having right now have absolutely nothing to do with the product that you will buy when you buy a Vault-Tec vault. Now, Vault-Tec vault living is living the dream, and it's the only way to safety unless you're... the President of the United States, or something like that, and you have a mountain in Colorado to go under and direct the events of the world. Not many of us are that, there's only one of those... uh, and his various and sundry advisors, I'm sure they'll be fine, but you won't! You won't be fine!

[The twenty-seventh scrolling headline reads "WERE TEDDY FEAR BEARS MISUNDERSTOOD? ONE PSYCHOLOGIST THINKS SO."]

If a vault is out of your price range, there are lower-cost alternatives to purchasing a spot with Vault-Tec. They don't sound... good, if you ask me. Anti-radiation pills? Good luck with that. Not sure how anti-radiation pills will hold up against temperatures rivaling the surface of the sun, for example. But maybe that's just me!

[He's gone again. We're 15 minutes into the countdown, and the woodwinds have really started to outdo their own whimsy, at this point. Headlines continue. "TEDDY FEARS SKYROCKET IN POPULARITY AND PRICE DUE TO SCARCITY CAUSED BY RECALL." "VAULT-TEC ANNOUNCES NEWLY AVAILABLE SINGLE VAULT SPACES FOR SALE." "THIS YEAR'S FALLOUT SUIT DESIGN FEATURES ENHANCED PROTECTION, 20% MORE ZIPPERS." The whimsical woodwinds finish up and a bouncy, brassy horn piece takes over. This summons the announcer.]

When you see that vault, it's all gonna be worth it, fellas. It's all gonna be worth it when you see that vault. Now kids, you're probably wondering: Can I bring my pet doggy, or my pet kitty, into the vault? You can't. Unfortunately... it's a hazard in so many different ways. Uh... tch, uh, their hair can get caught in the ventilation system, you'll have endless problems, where do you put their waste? Where do you put... their food? So many, so many problems, so... we have specially-made Vault-Tec gravestones.

[The thirty-first scrolling headline reads "VIRGO II LUNAR LANDER NOW ON DISPLAY AT MUSEUM OF TECHNOLOGY IN WASHINGTON, D.C."]

We have specially-made Vault-Tec pet gravestones for your children to have many funerals for their pets before you go into your Vault-Tec vault. Memorialize your pets now with Vault-Tec mini pet gravestones! Dig a hole in the sand, put the pet in there, and put that gravestone - and it's got a space where you can write the pet's name - right before you go in the vault, no pets in the vault. Not even fish. No, not even fish.

[The thirty-second scrolling headline reads "FLAG FROM VIRGO II LUNAR LANDING STOLEN FROM MUSEUM OF TECHNOLOGY." The news announcer is really getting aggravated.]

What is happening? What is - Arnie! What is - what is happening? Okay - okay! Alright!

[The music and the headlines fill the space again. "NUKA-WORLD TO RAISE TICKET PRICES FOR UPCOMING SEASON, EXPECTING AN 'EXPLOSIVE' YEAR." "GWINNETT ANNOUNCES NEW PALE ALE SO PALE IT'S TRANSPARENT." "HAPPY NATIONAL SOCK HOP DAY!" "VAULT BOY NAMED WORLD'S SEXIEST MAN." The news announcer tries again, attempting to play up the complete inactivity happening onscreen.]

So much is happening here, we've got... the crane, as you can see, it's - it's about to be lowered, and I'm told - and I'm told... the weather. The inclement weather is - keep - I think the weather... there's a pressure cha- it needs to be - yes, of course. The pressure needs to be right to open the vault, or else the differential pressure between underground and overground will cause... a, uh... uh, the furniture to, uh...

[The thirty-seventh scrolling headline reads "VAULT-TEC REGISTERS TRADEMARK ON THE THUMBS UP EMOJI." This one made me physically recoil.]

L- Look... get a Vault-Tec vault. If you can't afford a whole vault for your family, that's fine. Buy time in a timeshare, one of our timeshares. And it's not the kind of timeshare you're going to regret, this is one that's not a scam, because you can look down at your intact body in a Vault-Tec vault and say, "Look at me! I'm whole!"

[The thirty-eighth scrolling headline reads "NUKA-COLA PATRIOTICALLY SALUTES SUCCESS OF NEWEST FLAVOR LAUNCH - NUKA-COLA VICTORY. EXCLUSIVE REDESIGN COMING NEXT YEAR WITH 'A TASTE AS SWEET AS FREEDOM.'"]

Stay whole in a Vault-Tec vault! Keep it together, meaning your corporeal form! Keep it together in a Vault-Tec vault! You'll be skipping around in a workout area, and... check out those barbells! Why not work those biceps while you're down here? What if there's an emergency, and somebody breaches your Vault-Tec vault door? Well, you're gonna want to be in shape to fight off that rageful beast!

[At this point the scrolling headlines loop back to the beginning.]

Now, is it a human? If you kill it, will its soul go to heaven or hell? Don't worry about it! Just get it out, because even its presence in your Vault-Tec vault could kill you and your entire family! These people are irradiated. It's not healthy, right? It's like putting your hand on a radiator. Don't do it.

[Music break. That vault still isn't opening. The song ends, and the news announcer clears his throat.]

We don't... have the exact scoop yet, ladies and gentlemen, so Arnie, why don't we put some music on while we wait for the skinny?

[noticeable pause]

I- I- I- I- don't know what song, put on anything, I'm dying up here.

[The next song opens with energetic trumpets that sound like they're charging through a movie theater snack stand. It's followed by a big band track that seems to re-energize the announcer.]

And, if you're just joining us, we're preparing to head inside the latest and greatest product offering from Vault-Tec. Vault 33, a pristine subterranean society purpose-built for America's best and brightest to wait out the nuclear fallout. There's no telling what will remain once this global conflict reaches its inevitable conclusion: That's why it's important for patriots like you to purchase a guaranteed spot in America's future. It's up to you to keep our golden society going, propagating forth until we have the ranks to repopulate the world outside.

"What if I don't have a partner or family right now?" you may be asking. "Don't give up on love so soon!" I say. Where better to meet eligible partners than in a cherry-picked community of like-minded individuals? If you find you need a bit more assistance, Vault-Tec has breeder search programs to help you find the one, or the two, or the three, four, five! Vault-Tec is a very open society, so go ahead and purchase that single vault space, and that single may become a double before you know it! And what better place to find someone to love, than safe underground?

Please stay tuned as we prepare to bring the crew, and the world at large, inside our Vault-Tec facility.

"But what if I don't have the money for a vault right now?" you may be thinking. You should never let not having the funds today stop you from reaching your dreams. You can always pay tomorrow, into perpetuity. Vault-Tec is reportedly constructing financial packages that allow for customers to continue payments on select economy vaults, in the event of total societal extinction. So don't worry, purchase away! Vault-Tec upholds traditional American values, and they believe no one should be excluded from the pursuit of life, liberty, and debt.

[Music break, wherein the song concludes and switches to something more pensive and staccato.]

A- Alright? Yes? Arnold is telling me - yes? We are moments away! Moments away - from having some kind of movement here. I'll believe that when I see it. Sorry Arnie, but your credibility with me could not be any lower at this point.

Let's talk about the amenities in these concrete miracles. Radiation King will be providing television sets, modern kitchen appliances.

[throat clearing]

The sofas will be... I'm sorry, do we know who makes the sofas? I'm sorry, do we - do we know who makes the sofas? Do we know who makes the sofas? Arnold, do we know who makes the sofas?

[Arnold does not reply. The announcer is miffed.]

What else is new. Yeah.

[Dejection turns to anger immediately.]

If you could please just give me something? If you could please just give me something to update? I'm sitting here with nothing! I'm sitting here... with nothing! This isn't my job! I'm a journalist! I report things, I don't... vamp! Is there even a - is, is there a clue? Is there, do the crane people - have the crane people chimed in? Have the door people chimed in? Is it all one person?

[Arnold presumably says some inaudible form of "I don't know." This does not please the news announcer.]

Well maybe con- maybe connect yourself to them. You should get yourself a radio. Get yourself a radio, Arnold. That's your job, to communicate with me the facts about what's going on, and it's my job to communicate to the people who are watching - we're trying to save their lives - you know, and this isn't advertising for me. This is a product I believe in!

Arnold, what do you do? What skills do you - are you somebody's son? Are you - are you somebody's kid, or something?

[Arnold can finally be heard, somewhat garbled from distance or technology: "My uncle is, uh, is the general manager of Galaxy News, your employer." The news announcer considers this.]

Your uncle is the manager of Galaxy New - mmm. Well, that explains how you got this internship. I'm sorry for everything I said, but... you can understand my frustration, here.

[The music concludes, but the announcer keeps going.]

The, uh, vault foreman is out here, and he is, uh, uh, doing hand signals. Ooh, yes, it's going to be a while, let's play some music for the people, Arnie.

[A new song starts. We're nearly 30 minutes into the countdown before the song switches over and the news announcer starts up again.]

All right folks, we have an update! They've got eyes on the gatekeeper out walking the grounds. It appears he was attempting to retrace his steps after misplacing the key and his wallet - still no word on the key itself, please stand by for more on the wallet, as this story continues to unfold.

Still on standby as we wait for the situation in the vault to resolve, but folks, there is plenty to get the American public up to speed on in the meantime. World news stories! Breaking, breaking news from the international desk. Peace negotiations between America and her adversaries crumbled in Anchorage, Alaska, this past weekend, a city recently liberated from foreign occupation, leading experts to believe nuclear war is indeed on the horizon. One more reason, America, to tune into the presentation Vault-Tec has for us today. Preparation, resilience, and smart spending are the only way our precious republic makes it through that long, dark night.

[This revelation approximates the date of the broadcast, which is happening not long after the Battle of Anchorage. The clash in Alaska officially ended on January 10, 2077: This news bulletin proves that attempted peace negotiations followed, then failed.]

Going the way of the dinosaurs has never felt this fun! If only the dinosaurs had Vault-Tec technology. Now, the dinosaurs died because... a meteor came from space, right? They had nothing to do with it. We have everything to do with our own demise. It's almost like… people are a virus that is destroying the Earth, we're a planet-killing virus. And people do say, "Oh, well, you know, well, the cockroaches... will outlive us and the the aardvarks or whatever will outlive us." Well, they won't. They're going to die too, because this is the real deal, guys. This is the end. So if you're not underground, I don't know what you're doing.

I wonder how we'll evolve. Will we develop a different kind of skin, some kind of leathery, plastic skin to fight off the nuclear fire? Who knows, but the only way to find out is to purchase a Vault-Tec vault, or a space in one of our timeshares.

[Music break again. It's a rather lively waltz.]

For those gathered around their Radiation King TV sets today, thank you for your patience. Rome wasn't built in a day!

[laughter]

Very soon you will witness… one of the greatest modern advances since the Virgo II moon landing - you won't want to miss this, the future of you and your future children depends on it.

[Exasperation sets in.]

Honestly, who wrote this copy?

[Arnold presumably raises his hand.]

You did, Arnold? Well, that's not surprising. It leaves… yes, well, it leaves a lot to be desired. They couldn't hire a professional writer? You look like you're 15 years old.

[Arnold inaudibly corrects him.]

You're 23? Yeah, well, 23-year-olds look like they're 15 now, still too young. What could you know about the - what could you possibly know about the written word, Arnold? Goddamn it. What could you - what do you know about writing and oratory? Nothing, I'll answer y- for you, nothing. The lack of professionalism - myself not included - disgusts me. The lack of professionalism disgusts me, Arnold!

Speaking of nuclear fire, you should see the muffin tray they left out for me. People want a blueberry mu- you want a muffin, okay? A muffin. Not a little squirt of dough, with a little powdered su- give me a muffin, give me a real thing, okay? Give me some snacks! You're going to give me some coffee? Good. I need a snack, to balance it. I'm not the only person in the world who needs a little bit of fat in their stomach when they eat a... big haul of caffeine.

[throat clearing]

Stand by as we wait for the situation in the vault to resolve.

[The music does some flourishes, then finishes.]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's official: We're experiencing some technical difficulties. And before we can open the vault - Vault 33, our flagship vault, full of the, uh, finest luxury items available to mankind, a- as of now - maybe we could put something on to keep people company while we figure out the technical difficulties. Sorry, these difficulties of course have nothing to do with Vault-Tec's vault tech. In- in- indeed…

Look, I need to have a whole cigarette right now. Just put on the song. Where are my smokes?

[The music starts up again while the announcer burns through a cigarette at the speed of a Corvega.]

Well, well, well! Here we are again! Ladies and gentlemen, we're dealing with a hiccup. Now, hiccups... might seem like a momentary stoppage, but this is a big hiccup. It's like God is hiccuping.

Vault-Tec is reporting that there's only one gatekeeper and one key on this vault model. The keys for these vaults are one of one, it fits like a glove, but it's - it's - these - these locks are very, very complicated.

God, it's so good to be on the other side of this. I don't think people know. People really don't know what's coming, and that's probably good. If you haven't watched… if you haven't watched the news up to this point, don't pick it up. Don't… just try and stay ignorant, uh, really don't find out what's going to happen because… it's bad, um, it's over.

[laughter]

The Earth is a slaughterhouse, and we are cattle!

[laughter]

We- we'll go back into, uh, a society resembling Bronze Age Mesopotamia. That's where we're going. It's not fun. Um... disease is… really prominent, um… we don't treat women well - let's just face it, it's - they - we don't treat them well now, but back then… oof. Rough. Rough treatment of women. You think we're racist now?

It's going to get bad. Where you want to be is underground. Vault-Tec vaults.

[A really tinny muted trumpet rises to its occasion as he disappears again for a bit.]

You know what else is great about Vault-Tec vaults? The air purification system. Let's talk about air. You need air to breathe, I need air to breathe, we need air to breathe. Vault-Tec's got it in spades! We've got oxygen candles straight from our finest nuclear submarines that you can burn, that turn nitrogen and carbon dioxide into oxygen molecules. Perfectly breathable, perfectly safe for your children, and your children's children, and your children's children's children in case we're there for three sweaty generations of sweaty living underground! In a fresh vault!

In fact, we put a family in a vault for 10 years and let them out just to see how it would go… and here they are now! "We loved it, uh… We loved it! That was great!" Uh… that's - I'm making it up! I'm making that up. I am imagining what could happen if I had more information about the vaults, but I don't have that information, so I'm making it up! Ha! Vault-Tec vaults, yes. Say yes to the tech!

[The music saves us for a bit.]

Unfortunately, we are back, the vault hasn't opened, and we have had absolutely no movement towards the vault opening, so! Hope you enjoyed that music. I know I was tapping my feet. Let's get back into it, where are we?

The US government has been quietly testing T-60 power armor suits as part of their long-standing defense contract with West Tek, following up the T-45 and T-51 efforts in the ongoing war with the People's Liberation Army.

[hisses through teeth]

How about that? How about that. The Man from Deadhorse gallops to a fast start at the box office! The Howard-led western is said to be the next smash for California Crest Studios.

[So the ghoul's name is probably Howard Something, or Something Howard. Interesting, but the announcer doesn't care and decides to throw another tantrum.]

Am I crazy or is this taking forever? I don't think I'm crazy, but I feel crazy! In fact, I might be the only person involved in this whole production who hasn't lost his mind! I'm looking at you, Arnie, I'm looking at you!

[Looking at Arnie yields nothing, again.]

"You don't know what to do, you don't know what to do." You idiot! I can't even get the word- I can't even get the information from you. Worthless!

[grunt of rage]

It's just me and Arnie here, I'm in hell, he's sitting there smiling at me, I'm in absolute hell!

Do you have a spot, Arnie? Do you have a spot in a vault? Oh! You do! What vault is that?

[long pause]

Oh, that's the one I'm in. Oh. Dear God.

[deep breath]

I guess we should get to know each other.

Ladies and gentlemen, we don't even know what's wrong here… but I can assure you that what isn't wrong is Vault-Tec technology, this has nothing to do with Vault-Tec's patented lock technology and everything to do with stupid people and human error. If you're this inefficient at work, what is home li- do - how do you wipe yourself?

[Uncalled-for, news announcer man.]

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy this music while we figure out what's going on.

[Musical break number who knows. Just over 11 minutes remain on the countdown.]

In other sponsored news, Nuka-Cola is celebrating the success of one of their newest flavor launches, Nuka-Cola Victory, with an exclusive redesign release later next year. Students that read over 10,000 books can be part of the ZAP IT! Program, rewarding literacy with sugar!

[deep breath]

I don't like Nuka-Cola. Personally... I don't like Nuka-Cola. Too sweet. I don't drink it. But it's popular, I have stocks in it, I invest - I invest in it. I don't drink it. It's the way the world is. Just because it's popular, doesn't mean it's good, just because it's good, doesn't mean it's popular. A can of Nuka-Cola, what is that, it's energy slowed down, right? It's the energy of the universe slowed down, right? What are we, what am I? We are energy slowed down into the form of a human being. All that's about to stop.

[laughter]

All that's about to stop! All that's about to go away! Maybe there's life on other planets. Maybe there's not. Are they going to come save us, no! If I were on another planet, and I came here, I would have an endless belly laugh at our folly, I mean, the folly of man! It's funny, there's so much written about the "folly of man." I mean, read Moby-Dick. Read… uh… what di- what happened with the - the wax wings, the wax wing guy? Wax wing man, Mr. Wax Wings, Daedalus. What's his name?

[Arnold hazards a guess we can hear: "Shakespeare?"]

Arnold, Shakespeare? Arnold, Arnold, good god… Shakespeare? Where did you go - you went to one of these hippie schools...

[Arnold tries again: "I think it was Icarus?" The announcer is ecstatic.]

Icarus! Icarus. Wow! You are good for something. Wow, Arnie!

Now, Icarus, he was close to the sun. In a Vault-Tec vault, you'll be as far from it as possible. You will be up to 50 feet underground, in a Vault-Tec vault, safe and sound in the knowledge that the wax on your wings will not be anywhere close to anything that will make it melt, except our new Vault-Tec oven!

[The horns come in again.]

Where are you f- what's your family situation? Do you have kids or…

[Arnold probably shakes his head.]

No kids? Good for you.

[laughter]

Are you single?

[Arnold: "Yeah."]

Ahh, yeah. I wouldn't recommend going into a vault single. You might want to lock someone down and take you in there - if only to help you fight - and, uh, survive, it's good to have a partner. Yeah… oof!

Anyway, glad I'm safe and secure in my vault! Um… I'm in the tax bracket that kind of... automatically gets a vault, so, sorry everybody. Uh… I'll be, uh, doing this thing called surviving, while you are all burning.

[deep breath]

What's the point of any of this? What's the point of any of this? Nobody - nobody listening to this can afford one of these things. Everybody listening to this is about to turn into an idea!

[laughter]

Instead of a being! But, here we are! Let's whoop it up! Let's whoop it up! It's a big parade… for the end of mankind! It's a big parade! Here's the final celebration, Arnie! Here we are!

Let's stake our claim in a dying planet! Let's plant our flag in a dead rock, and see how we feel. Let's see how we feel after the flag is planted, Arnie.

[a deep sigh]

I don't know how much longer I can do this, man.

[another deep breath]

My voice hurts, I'm thirsty, we're out of water, the muffins they laid out at the top of the day are dry and old, I feel dry and I feel old.

I give up! I give up.

[chuckles]

What's the point of this? I mean, what's the point of anything? I'm... I'm broken.

[Emotion creeps in.]

I'm broken. I'm changed. I am broken and I have changed. I…

[one more deep breath]

Thanks to you, Arnie. Thanks to you, man. Thanks, you're the best, yeah, thanks to you, pal. Thanks to you, buddy boy. You are just awful. You disgust me. Yeah, I'm just - I'm sorry. I'm - I'm just… I'm fried, man. I'm - I'm fried, pal. I'm fried. Dead. Gravestone, dead. Oh yeah, that's, okay.

Oh, god. Where are we in the process of the door opening?

[Arnold: "Yeah, it's over."]

What?

[A record scratch stops the music. Two minutes remain on the countdown.]

What's that? Oh!

[The announcer clears his throat, and the music changes to a triumphant fanfare.]

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm getting word. Ladies and gentlemen... I've gotten word that we are star- we are starting, ladies and gentlemen. It's happening! Here we are! Here we are, we got it, we got it, and now…

N- and now, this afternoon is unlike any other afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It was the morning, now it's the afternoon - here we go! The crane is loweri- Here we go!

[relieved laughter]

Okay! Really close to the time where I can go, and get out of here! The crane is lowering, it is happening, the tumblers are tumbling! The crane is lowering, the tumblers are tumbling, we are… go! We're going! It's opening! It's opening!

[The static image of the vault has not changed in the slightest bit.]

You try doing this! You try doing this, Arnie! You try filling the time! Next time we'll switch places, Arnie, and you can try it! Oh boy, oh boy, here we go, thank god we're doing it and it's happening. I see motion, I see- I see Vault-Tec… I am convinced! Guys, this is great, it's been great, Arnie? It's been great. Arnie, it's been great. You know, I hope we are in the same vault. I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you, Arnie.

[slightly unhinged laughter]

As long as this happens right now, I am fine with spending the rest of my life with you! As long as the vault opens right now. The fact that nuclear fire could fall from the sky at any moment has made this broadcast that much more important. Thank you, thank you so much for joining us!

[not-neverland06]

Ultraviolence

Previous part / Next part

Cooper Howard x fem!reader, The Ghoul x fem!reader A/N: Canon timeline? We don’t know her Summary: He’s not the man you remember. Maybe you’d never actually known who that man was. It doesn’t matter, you need to get away from him before he kills you or does worse.

Bud sits at the head of the table. You don’t know how he managed to get this room for your meeting. Most of the time it’s only used for potential investors or the higher ups. But you know he likes to use it because it makes him feel powerful to sit in the big chair. 

You sit beside him, Hank’s on the other side of him, all of the higher ranking Buds are. It ranges from junior execs to lower ranking administrative assistants. He wants to create the next few generations of super managers and this is who he’s starting with.

You met him when you were working with his company creating the power suits. You were the one that brought the concerns about the defects to him. And because you’d saved him from years of lawsuits and dropping stocks by getting him the hell out of there, he’d taken you on as his personal assistant. A better pay, but not a better job. 

When Vault-Tec had agreed to this plan of his for his triple set of vaults, he’d kept you as his personal right hand. But that doesn’t matter to the rest of the little corporate worker bees. They don’t think you earned your place here. And they think you’re a threat to their positions. 

You’d been under the misguided belief that it was common knowledge that Bud wasn’t truly grooming you to take over the vaults. He likes you and enjoys working with you. Squeezing you into this program was a favor and a way to keep you safe in the fallout. He only drags you to these meetings to keep a good cover as to why you’re supposedly a valuable asset. None of its real.

These people don’t respect you. They’re all buying into a baseless rumor that you slept your way here. Not true, ever. If you weren’t so inclined to saving your own ass you might even say that you would prefer the nuclear war zone to Bud’s bed. But honestly, those thirty seconds with him would probably be worth it to have a place in the promised land. 

At the very least, he’s not letting you go into this unprepared. He’s got you in the same training regime as the rest. The same classes on leadership during tumultuous and trying times. If you are one of the lucky few who gets to see the surface, you won’t be unprepared. 

The meeting has devolved from lessons on proper management to discussions on other vaults. “I heard in vault eleven they’re doing self elected sacrifices.”

You scoff, spinning a pen idly on the table before you and reclining lazily in your seat. “That’s ridiculous,” you object, “what’s the point?”

Steph shrugs and shakes her head, blonde curls idly bobbing by her ears. “I don’t know. I think a lot of the experiments are just for the sick satisfaction of the investors.” Everyone turns to Bud, wanting to see if he would divulge any information. 

He entertained you guys by letting you speculate on what the vaults might be, but he was pretty adamant on not sharing investor secrets. Instead of answering he smiles, “A hypothetical for you.” You have to resist the urge to roll your eyes. He might be kinder to you, but you had to show him the same respect everyone else did. You didn’t want to risk undermining him just because he didn’t have as strong a backbone when it came to you. 

Besides, you know he doesn’t like talking about the darker side of the vaults. He always tenses up when anyone mentions a particularly grisly experiment. It’s clear that what Vault-Tec is doing is evil. But what the investors are planning is even worse. At least Bud just wants to breed a bunch of corporate workers, some of these people are talking about killing kids and only letting the smartest reach adulthood. Sometimes, Bud doesn’t like to face the harsh reality of the company he endorses so eagerly.

“Betty,” his eyes scan the table and everyone perks up, hoping for an opportunity to prove themself. His eyes land on you and his face lights up. You try to shake your head subtly at him but he’s already speaking your name with a smile. 

These hypotheticals are tests, see who has the better solution to a vault conflict. It’s an unspoken rule that whoever has the right answer is more likely to be put in a position of power rather than just be a breeder. With Betty it’s lose-lose. You let her win and everyone here just further confirms that you don’t have what it takes. You win and the divide between you both just gets larger. 

You feel the eyes of everyone on you and try to ignore them by continuing to roll the pen against the table, blocking out their stares. 

“One of us gets off on the wrong foot with their new partner from the breeding vaults. What do you do?”

Betty speaks up quickly, “We reassign,” she blurts out, all confidence and smugness as she looks over at you. “If they don’t get along, they can’t facilitate the proper environment for a child. It’s best to just reassign them to another partner.”

Bud hums, jotting something down on his notepad and looks at you. He says your name, prompting you to speak. “Once a partner’s assigned, there’s no going back. It’s up to the overseer to facilitate conversation between the two and find the root of the problem. It’s up to us,” you look at your peers and grin, “to be better than them. If we can’t get along with our partner it’s a poor reflection on us and Bud. Ultimately, it’s our job to fix the issue with conversation and if that doesn’t work, well,” you smile at Bud, “a little extra Calmex in their Sugar Bombs never hurts.”

Betty’s face falls as Bud smiles at you in return and you know you’ve won. “Correct! We’re meant to be raising the best of the best for our future. That means that petty squabbles get left behind. And I need strong leaders.” 

Bud grows serious, staring down the table at you all. “One’s who aren’t afraid of compromising their principles.”

He yanks her to her feet, fisting his hand in the collar of her blue suit dragging her up harshly. Her eyes widen with shock, looking him up and down. “Cooper?” She shakes her head like she’s trying to reset it and his mouth turns down into a frown. Her mouth flops open and closed obnoxiously. “I thought when I saw you that I was going insane. That I’d finally had a heat stroke. But it’s really you isn’t it?” 

She reaches forward like she’s going to touch him and he steps back with a harsh scoff. There’s a distant sort of wonder to her voice that has him gritting his teeth. Few things have kept him going these past two hundred odd years. Two of the main motivators; spite and hate. And he holds a hell of a lot for her. 

“In the flesh,” he grins, only getting angrier when she looks at his yellowed teeth with disgust. Not everyone had the luxury of hiding out in the vaults like a fucking coward. 

“What the fuck happened to you?” The question is blunt, no class or grace about it. She’s clearly caught off guard by the sight of him. He’s sure it's jarring to see the man who she’d left for dead still alive. Frankly, he’s only getting more pissed off by her reaction. 

He honestly thought that she was dead. He figured after she’d screwed the pooch with him that they’d gotten rid of her. And at one point, the thought of her death had saddened him slightly. They’d been close, about to breach something that would have ruined him as a married man and compromised his morals. But she’d lied to him and he was long past sadness, the only thing he felt now was a stark disappointment that she was still fucking breathing. 

“Nuclear fallout happened.” He growled, grabbing her by the rope looped around her waist and yanking her forward. She yelped, stumbling into his chest and trying to tug herself back from him. “Don’t you remember? It was your people who pushed the button.”

She smirks, a cruel tilt to her lips that makes him want to beat her to the ground. “If I remember correctly, it was your wife who pushed the button.”

He looks her up and down. There’s a burning rage building in him, this overwhelming desire to just take out his gun and riddle her pretty body with bullets. He’s damn near desperate to see what her blood looks like painting the forest floor. But he has to have patience, he’s got use for her yet. 

He lifts the rope up, smiling at the relieved look on her face, before drawing it around her neck and tightening it. She wheezes, hands shooting up to try and loosen it. He tuts, patronizing, grabbing her wrists harshly and yanking her forward so he can tie those too. She tries to say something, he doesn’t care what, but all that comes out is a strangled gasp for air. 

He tugs on the rope a few times, smiling at the way she winces at the pull, before dragging her through the forest. He’d love to just get this over with here and be done with her. But he needs to get away from Filly before the Knight calls for backup from the brotherhood. They’re not exactly big fans of him and he doesn’t need any more trouble than he’s already got. 

With her in his grasp, he forgets all about the bounty left behind in Filly. And the girl who’d been with her. 

“Is it true?” Hank runs in front of you, stopping you from going any further. You let out a rough sigh, glaring at him. 

“Is what?” You snap, moving around him and continuing towards the elevator. You’re going to be late meeting Bud at the studio if Hank decides he feels like being chatty today. You don’t want to make a bad first impression with your new boss. 

You don’t resent the idea of being an assistant as much as you thought you would. You were Bud’s assistant, but he didn’t really count. He wasn’t much of a boss and the tasks he had for you were menial. Most of your time was taken up by your training anyway. The only part bothering you about all this was the worry that your new boss might not be very agreeable.

He catches up with you, looking incredibly excited. “Bud’s really assigning you to Cooper Howard?” You huff out a laugh, nearly forgetting that Hank is just as smitten with Cooper as Bud is. Your heels clack against the tile as he keeps stride with you. You stop in front of the elevator, glancing over at him while you click the button. 

It opens quickly and you both step inside, even though you know he doesn’t need to actually use it. He fiddles with his tie, doing more damage than good. You roll your eyes and step forward, straightening it out for him. “Yes,” you mutter, fixing the knot. “I’m working with Mr. Howard from now on. Barbara thinks I’m expendable enough to be assigned to him.”

Hank glances down at you, patting your hand as you step back. “You’re not expendable,” he tries to reassure. 

You give him a grateful smile and shrug. “That’s sweet, Hank, but we both know I am. I don’t have any qualms about it. I’m just hoping he’s not one of those Hollywood assholes who thinks everyone needs to worship the ground he walks on.”

Hank shakes his head, expression in vehement disagreement. “No way, he’s my idol. Have you seen him in A Man and His Dog? Oh, and that line of his ‘feo, fuerte y formal.’” You blow out a long breath, idly clicking the first level button again, hoping it might speed this up. Hank chuckles, “Sorry, I’ve been talking Betty’s ear off about this all week. I almost wish Bud had assigned me to him.”

You don’t bother with telling him that he’s sorely lacking the assets that make you so well suited for the job. The elevator stops, doors slowly sliding open and you all but leap out of it. “You’ve got more important things to do here, Hank. I’ll try and get you an autograph,” he lights up at this. 

“Trust me,” you turn to look at him, giving him a slight smile. “Never meet your heroes.”

You’re tied up to a tree, the rope around your neck still wrapped around his fist. You eye it warily, waiting for him to yank on it again. He keeps doing that, randomly tugging on it and causing the burns around your neck to worsen. “I’ve got ways of making you speak, darling. You’re only making this worse for yourself.”

You glare at him, undeterred by his ‘torture.’ “You know another way of making someone talk?” His head tilts in question and you scoff, “Fucking asking a question.” He’s had you here for you don’t even know how long. Blood is steadily starting to form around the burns on your neck. Everytime you inhale it feels like you’re brushing an exposed nerve. And through all of this, he hasn’t asked you one damn thing. 

He just keeps tugging that goddamn rope and giving you this expectant look like you’re meant to read his mind. He’s already rifled through your bag, stolen your guns, and dropped all of your supplies onto the forest floor. You don’t know what he’s looking for but clearly it wasn’t in there. Or he’s just being a dick. 

This was not at all how you thought your reunion with him was going to go. One, because you’d never thought there would be a reunion. And, two, you don’t remember him being such a sadistic asshole. Then again, if he’s been out here as long as you think he has, you’re lucky he’s not worse. 

You still can’t believe it, that he’s alive. Even if he is a ghoul now, it’s a miracle your paths ever crossed. Well, maybe a curse, karmic justice on your part. He leans forward, elbows propped up on his knees and you find yourself leaning in to meet him. He grins, the curl of his lips cruel and lacking any sort of warmth. It’s enough to have you pressing your back against the trunk of the tree again. 

He doesn’t appreciate that, though, and tugs you forward once more. You don’t want to give him the satisfaction of a reaction, but you can’t help it. You hiss in pain, burning tears building up on the rim of your eyelids as you glare at him. “How’s this, sweetheart, where’s my fucking family?” The last two words are bordering on a shout, full of an anger you’ve never heard from him before. 

It’s enough to cause you to flinch back in surprise. Then, you laugh. “Family?” You question, tone sarcastic and bordering on cruel, “What fucking family?” The noise grates further on his nerves and the look on his face causes you to laugh harder. He darts forward, fast as a whip, and grabs your throat, shoving you back against the tree. 

You grin up at him, ignoring how much the leather of his glove hurts the raw skin on your neck. “I don’t know. How would I?”

He grins, “You were Buck’s favorite little cocksucker weren’t you?”

You scoff, lips curling down in disgust. “Bud,” you spit out, not helping your case. “And that was above my fucking pay grade jackass.” 

God, didn’t you used to love him? Wasn’t that the whole reason your relationship never worked with your husband? You’re really not feeling any of the love right now. Apparently, neither is he, his hand tightens to the point your vision turns black. Shadows start to crawl into the corners of your eyes and you can feel them starting to roll. Your limbs flail out in a discoordinated panic as air becomes harder to come by. 

After a minute he finally releases you, backing off and sitting back down on the log across from you. You fall forward, hands clawing at your throat as you take in deep gasping breaths. Your heart beats so violently inside your throat that you worry it’s going to rip through the skin. 

You struggle to get upright again, still panting when you finally look at him again. He’s no longer smiling, just staring blankly at you while he waits for you to get it together. “So,” you start, voice a rough croak that has you gritting your teeth at the sound. “Still pining after Barb, huh?” His eye twitches briefly at her name but he doesn’t react otherwise. “You know,” your hands lower towards your boots but he doesn’t catch the movement. “From what I remember she was a fucking bitch. Maybe you should just move on, I heard she did, real quick.”

You’re goading him, trying to get him angry again. You’re not sure it works until he lunges at you. Your lips pull up in a cruel grin, hands shooting out before he can catch onto what you’re doing. Your knife, the one you keep strapped to your boot, is buried in his throat. You jerk the rope out of his hand as blood dribbles over his lips. His eyes are wide with shock as you smile up at him. You rip the knife out, mouth closed against the arterial spray that follows. 

You don’t have time to grab your bag or untie your wrists. Ghouls heal fast, faster than you’d like. You leap off the log, over his body, and take off through the forest. You’re careful not to trip, you’ve still got your knife in your hand and you don’t heal nearly as fast as him. All you hear is the gurgle of death as he chokes on his own blood, but the sound quickly fades the further you go. 

You risk a glance at your wrist, trying to get a better look at the map on your Pip-Boy but there’s no point. You won’t be able to find Lucy or a way out of this right now. The best you can do is run and hope you manage to stumble across her. 

You should have planned this out better. You should have done this in a way where you could have taken your supplies with you. As it was, you don’t think he was going to present many chances to you. You genuinely know nothing about where Barb was. It truly was above your pay grade and it was information she never wanted to share with you. You have a feeling she’d caught on to how you felt about her husband and wanted you as far from him as possible. 

Without this information to offer him, you were useless. There was clearly no love lost with him and you doubted he would keep you around much longer. You just needed to get out before he decided he really did believe that you had nothing to offer. 

“How do you like it?”

You glance up at Bud and give him a terse smile, he eagerly waits for your answer. You finish chewing and force down the driest piece of chicken you’ve ever had the misfortune of eating. “It’s good, Bud. Did you,” you hesitate to finish, worry it will come out bitchier than you mean it to. “Did you make it?” You stumble over the words, voice rising in pitch to try and keep the dislike out of your voice. 

He nods, sawing so hard into his own piece that the table shakes slightly. “Yep,” he pops the ‘P’ with a proud smile directed at you. He dips the chicken into some ketchup and you watch in awe as he pops it in his mouth. He seems completely unbothered by the lack of flavor and juices. This man should never be allowed in the kitchen again. 

Bud clears his throat and you brace yourself. It’s not uncommon for you to be at his place for dinner. Normally, the food has been cooked by a professional, but he never invites you over without a reason. You’ve been wondering why you’re here since you arrived. 

He placed his fork down on his plate and leaned back in his chair. He gives you a smile that’s meant to be disarming but only puts you further on your guard. Bud might be able to hide behind his goofy grin and facade of incompetence, but you see what really lurks under the surface. 

He’s just as greedy as everyone else in Vault-Tec. For fuck’s sake, he’s planning to have two vaults of people that are just there to be bred. He wants to create an army of micro-managers to efficiently rule the world. He would do anything to carve out a place for himself in the future. To make a name for himself. And just like any other man he wants his name to have weight, meaning, power. 

It’s what this whole experiment of his comes down to. A hierarchy of power that all leads back to him. The people in the two vaults, the cattle as Bud’s Buds have come to call them, answer to their overseers. The overseers appear to have final say in all decisions, but it truly all loops back to Bud. He’s created a world for himself where he is almighty, a practical god to those in the vaults. They’ll never even know that every decision they make, every happiness or low point they experience, has all been orchestrated by him. 

Him being Bud, the man with the least intimidating persona you’ve ever met. Maybe that’s how he’s made it so far. Everyone underestimates an idiot. 

“How has it been going with Cooper?” Even now there’s a pitch to his voice that betrays his excitement every time he mentions Mr. Howard. You know Mr. Howard wants you to call him Cooper, or, as he’s insisted, Coop. You can’t do it, though, everytime you call him by his first name you fall deeper into your crush. 

You can’t be blamed for it. You spend everyday with him, you’re by his side more often than you’re on your own. Anyone in close proximity to him that often would start to fall for him too. You’ve been trying to convince yourself it’s just guilt presenting in odd ways but you know that’s bullshit. You’re slowly falling for him and you feel awful about it. 

Everyday you’re getting closer to just blurting out the truth. But you know the consequences of that. Not only will Barb get rid of you, most likely kill you to keep Vault-Tec’s secrets, you’ll be screwing over Mr. Howard. If he learns about what his wife is up to, the sickness that lurks behind that pearly smile, he’ll never forgive her. He can kiss his place in the vaults goodbye. You’d be condemning the both of you to death. 

You need to rid yourself of this unfortunate crush. There are at least one hundred and twenty two vaults, and those are only the ones you know about. Who knows how many the higher ups are keeping from the rest of you? You’ll never see him again after this and you need to come to terms with that. 

“He hasn’t been asking me much about the company. I think he’s assuaged for now, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up, though.”

Bud sets you with a stern glare and you straighten up, face falling into a mask of indifference. “Why’s that?” The tone of his voice tells you he knows exactly why you’re struggling. But he wants you to deny it, to prove him wrong. You know Bud likes to look out for you, but he isn’t just flippantly providing you with a place in the world. 

This whole thing with Cooper is one big test. He only wants those who aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty. Leadership requires sacrifice and sometimes doing things you don’t want to do. 

You shrug, “He’s a bit of a wildcard. Not as easily malleable as Barb made him out to be. I think she underestimates him.” You reach to take another bite of the chicken but change your mind at the last second and sip some water instead. It’s a weak attempt at stalling but Bud lets you have it.

“I have faith in you.” You glance down at your hands and Bud calls out your name, forcing you to meet his gaze again. “If anyone can do this, it’s you. I’ve never met someone more inclined to self preservation.”

There’s a glint in his eyes, an underlying threat to his words. You swallow harshly, grip tightening around the glass until you feel like it might shatter. If you mess this up there’s not going to be a second chance. 

You nod your head, “I’ll keep him under control. It’s not hard to leash a man when you’ve got something he wants,” the insinuation isn’t lost on him. He nods, picking up his fork and beginning to eat again. 

You can’t do the same, you’ve lost your appetite and it’s not because of his cooking. You’re not sure what Cooper will do to you if he ever finds out the truth but you know it won’t be pretty. 

He rolls over onto his side, hand peeling away from his throat and eyes widening at the glossy sheen of blood over the leather. “Fuck,” he hisses, testing out the damage done to him. Nothing too bad, just a hoarse voice that would probably work itself out within the hour. 

It’s not her stabbing him that has his blood boiling with rage. It’s the audacity she has to even attempt hurting him. He can’t know for sure whether or not she knew he would survive that. He has to assume she wouldn’t, there’s no way she’s met a ghoul before. 

Leaving him for dead once wasn’t good enough, she needed to kill him herself this time. Spiteful fucking bitch. She’d always been like that, it had just taken him too long to see it. Seems like he has a type, women who only ever look out for themselves. 

There was a look in her eyes, one he’s seen a million times before. She’s got a fight

 in her, the same selfish spirit that kept her alive for so long. God help anyone who gets in her way, she would always pick herself first. 

He rubs at the skin of his neck, wiping off the rest of the blood and laughing humorlessly. He wants to see that light go out. He wants to watch as she loses her fight. He wants to be the one that does it. Break her so thourhougly that she gives up all hope. And when she does, when there’s nothing left for her, he’ll set her loose in the world and let it have its turn ripping her apart. 

end. — I do not own the characters or the game/show Fallout, but this writing is my own all rights reserved © not-neverland06 2024. do not copy, repost, translate & recommend elsewhere.

[technoturian]

The more I rewatch Fallout, the more I appreciate Norm as a character. Regarding what I consider to be the four main characters of Fallout and their narrative arcs, I feel like I've got a good idea of where most of them are going to end up based on the foundation they've laid:

The Ghoul is going to be dragged kicking and screaming into a redemption arc by his relationship to morally better characters. He will waffle between good and bad throughout the seasons as fits with his archetype and the writers' desire to keep him in that "dark, edgy" box as long as possible, but he started at such an extreme that there's only one way for his character to ultimately grow, back towards his humanity.

Lucy is going to be the hope she was raised to be. She will waffle between good and bad throughout the seasons as a result of the absolute torture she's going to be put through just for being a good person. But her place in the story is ultimately to be a heroic figure, the type of person who changes the world around her more than it can change her.

Maximus has two paths forward. He can reject the Brotherhood or accept it. He wants to be a good man but he needs safety, and those two are in conflict. He can be safe in a bad system or brave and break (or break free of) that system. He may waffle between good and bad throughout the seasons and that's going to make it even harder to figure out where he's ultimately going to end up. His arc is going to be that tug-of-war that ends when one side triumphs or he's pulled apart.

But then there's Norm.

I legitimately have no idea what's going to happen with Norm. I could see a version where he's a hero. I could see a version where he's a villain. I could see a version where he ends up somewhere in-between. He's a coward. He's reckless. He's part of the system. He sees beyond the system. He's loved. He's angry. He's surrounded by family. He's surrounded by liars. He doesn't care. He cares too much. He's very smart. He's too smart. Is he going to escape 31? Is he going to end up killing everyone in 31? Is he going to make a deal with the devil? Or is it his destiny to be the ultimate result of the "breeding program to create the perfect manager"? What does Norm want? What does Norm need? And what is he willing to give up? And what does he have left to lose?

[eowynstwin]

Fun stuff about Fallout: New Vegas for the uninitiated:

There’s one romance option! His name is Fisto. Please assume the position :)

Having your brain removed from your skull is not only survivable, it’s actually, in some cases, better for you.

You can even have a conversation with your own brain! No matter your gender it has a male Bostonian accent and is FURIOUS at you for the multiple severe head wounds you’ve inflicted upon it.

Speaking of head wounds, I lied, there’s actually two romance options. The other character you can sleep with, voiced by Chandler Bing, is the one that shot you in the head at the start of the game. He likes feet stuff, and will leave you the morning after :(

Think Cooper is the first cowboy ghoul Dom in fallout? Think again!

In order to get into New Vegas proper, you have the option to solve a scooby-do mystery for a gang of Elvis impersonators.

You cannot join the gang :(

The boss of this gang has a cyborg dog named Rex. Rex despises rats—and also hats, possibly because it rhymes with rats.

In New Vegas, a robot escort will pay you one thousand dollars for each snow globe you find and bring to her. She calls you sugar. You can compliment her hair.

Everyone wants to fuck the mummy man, don’t worry, you’re normal.

Remember those edits with Danaerys Targaryen and the quote “I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me”? Straight up stolen from this game. Specifically, from the mummy man, who is in fact talking about how his Mormonism kept him from dying when he was set on fire by a Julius Caesar impersonator.

There is a town called Novac that settled in the ruins of a motel. Novac has a gift shop built into a giant statue of a toy dinosaur. At the top of the toy dinosaur you can help a war criminal get revenge for the death of his wife. Then he becomes your bestie :)

One available companion is a floating radio robot named ED-E. He can’t speak but if your intelligence score is high enough you can understand him anyway. He beeps. Exclusively.

Sorry. I lied again. There’s three romance options. The third is a woman who runs big game death matches in the sewers. You win her heart by stealing eggs from wild animals for her breeding program.

You can buy the most powerful weapon in the game from a child playing tag in the slums with what he thinks is a toy gun. It’s the detonator for an orbital nuke.

Don’t know Liam O’Brien’s voice? You will!

In the end, the real villain is capitalism, and you are fully able—ENABLED—to choose anarchy.

[captain039]

PART 6 Predator grounds (Cooper Howard)

Alpha!Cooper Howard (pre-war)x omega!reader

Alpha!Cooper Howard (The Ghoul) x omega!reader

Warnings: AOB dynamics, vault tech things, forced heats/ruts, eventual smut, age gap, angst? Experiments, needles, drugs, talks of pregnancy, first times, anxiety attacks, anxiety, forced claiming, mentions of rape, plus size reader, fat shaming.

Me to me: Finish the story’s you’re writing! 😡

Me to me also: oh look new idea 😘

Fricken roller coaster 👌🏻

Previous part <-

It’s strange. Coming back to the world, one you thought you knew the one you grew in. This, this wasn’t it.

Nora stared with you, the browns, yellows and little green. The rusted ruined cars, building and ship cargo. The overly hot sun.

“Come on, I used to live down there in Sanctuary hills” she whispers and you just nod following her down the path. There’s skeletons by the gate and you hold your breath as you go past before letting it go. You follow the woman through the shrub and into the nuke ruined homestead. She talks with a Mr.Handy while you’re staring at the world you can see past the broken stone wall. Your minds blank yet over running and you reach out for Nora instinctively. She stops talking as does the robot and she holds your hand following your gaze. The beta lets you hold her hand before you’re searching the ruined houses for anything you guess. After it’s clear this place has been ransacked the Mr. Handy robot, or Codsworth points you in the direction to the next city.

You follow Nora silently she’s got the gun and knows how to use it, you’ve got scared omega running through your veins right now. You rub the mating bite on your neck, gods you wonder if he’s alive, if they froze him again or he got out. You hope he didn’t get out as you pass what you think is a dead dog in the middle of the road. You almost gag seeing its insides and quickly avoid it while looking away. You continue down the road seeing a red rocket station and a bark making you and Nora jump. You frown as she aims her gun but what comes running from the garage doesn’t look like what was on the road. The dog wags his tail, tongue out happily as he sniffs you both intently before barking.

“Ok boy?” Nora asks kneel to pet him before looking around.

“No owner?” She asks glancing to you and you shrug.

“Good boy” she mutters petting the dog one last time before checking the station. It’s empty besides some medical items that look very out of date. The dog follows you the whole time sniffing around before your on the road again. You take in the broken buildings, broken road and weird smells, it’s been like this since the bombs dropped and you’ve been hiding away underground, forced for some breeding program when there were already people up here?

You hug your middle keeping your eyes on the ground before you hear shots.

“Stay here, hide in that building!” Nora says quickly urging you into the rundown store.

You hear more shooting and shouting, your spot in the dusty smelly closet is horrid but it keeps you from out there.

You don’t know how much times pass, but the shooting stops, the shouting stops too. You don’t leave your spot though. You hear your name called though and peek out the door and see Nora, you sigh in relief and head out hugging her quickly without thought. She’s panting slightly and sweaty but you don’t care.

“Sorry” you say letting go and she just smiles saying it’s alright.

“I found friendly people” she says and you nod following her. You meet with some survivors, Preston alpha, Mama Murphy beta, Sturges another alpha and two betas a man and woman who seem intent on arguing more than giving their names.

“Oh you’re not from around here” Mama Murphy says looking at you and you gulp a little.

“No, no you’re far from home, far from your mate” she hums and you frown a little.

“Hm I’m getting the sense he’s changed” she says frowning and your heart skips a beat despite not believing the woman.

“Mama Murphy come on” Preston sighs.

“Oh shush” she waves the man off.

Your group heads back to sanctuary hills. You stick close to Nora the whole way. You help her clean out her old house, keeping what’s useful like the old table, couch and mattress. Nora sets up the mattress outside trying to dust it off the best she can while you sit on the surprisingly stable old chair, head in your hands.

There’s a scattering that wakes him damned rad roaches thinking he’s an easy meal. He barely looks to blow the thing to pieces before sighing and getting comfortable again. It’s morning before he can sleep again and his clicks his tongue before moving. This bounty he’s been chasing enjoys running too much and he’s getting sick of it. One Charlie James, stole something from some high and mighty, he didn’t care, didn’t matter as long as he was getting paid. He needed the caps fast, he’s been running low on viles for a while now and the coughs started to hurt more.

He finds the rat bastard hiding in a shopping mall, holed up like a little rat with his trinkets. The man doesn’t get a chance to speak before there’s a hole in his chest and his heads coming off with a few saws. Cooper grunts as he raids the little hide out before he’s heading back to the small town to get his bounty. He wonders how he got this far, roaming America, his first instinct was to stay around Los Angelas see if he could find his ex wife and daughter so he could find you. Hell there hasn’t been a day in the last 200 years he doesn’t miss you, his body aches every time he thinks about you, about that bite he left on you, about how you’d react if you saw him. After they took you away he went haywire, feral as the doctor said, he was teeth and claws before he got turned into this. Now he was truely feral, well not in the ghoul sense feral. Heading back into town with a head strapped to his thigh made most people look away or dart inside while he went to the towns mayor. He got paid, left a head lighter and headed to the closest drug dealer he could find. While hes waiting he hears about sanctuary hills, about how a Vaultie is running it with her little mated omega that ain’t even hers. Running it with the minutemen apparently. He shrugs it off at first but what makes him clench his fist though is their description, laughing about how the omega was ‘fat’ then the exact description of your hair, your face then your name leaves their mouth… He snatches his viles throws caps at the man, shoots the bastard laughing about you in the leg and barges out the door ignoring the pissed off yelling. He’s storming through the town before he looks to a map to find Sanctuary hills He’s got a five days trip to get there.

It’s been four months since you got here, three months to watch people build and grow this place into something of a community, guess Mama Murphys got one thing right about this place. You’re tending to the plants, Nora’s out helping another settlement and you’re left in charge seeing as Preston would happily stand by and guard rather than lead and leave it in your very incapable hands. Hell Struges would be better at this, Marcy could easily bark around orders, you just want to curl up in your bed. It’s been hard, really hard, you’ve sworn and yelled at Nora more than once and you felt like an absolute shitty friend but she would smile, give you a hug before heading out. Preston tries to offer his comfort in his weird way, Sturges makes sure to not cross your path when you’re in a mood and Marcy fights back and poor Jun looks like he’s about to cry if you slightly raise your voice at him. You’ve avoided all other settlers like the plague and thankfully they only introduced themselves and moved on. Nora was the real hero, saviour, mayor of the town, she ran this place like she knew how to run a government. You bonded with her, your mind and body designated her as your person and she didn’t mind. She had that motherness about her, strong but kind. Though you missed your mate, Cooper, you hear people saying how you’re lucky you hadn’t followed his path into death, or how you hadn’t been plagued by sickness or him being gone. It made your hope spark that he was alive, frozen like you somewhere. It’s hard with limited medical access out here despite the clinic, your heats come, people’s smells feel like an attack every time, you have a nest you made, Sturges yelling over construction makes you want to tuck talk and run. It wasn’t like this before, you could live your life, with suppressants and scent blockers. You were heading down to the clinic, made after the ruined house was removed by the bridge when you see a figure across the bridge. You think it’s Nora or a settler at first but the way he’s standing has your neck hairs standing up. You signal the guard standing by the clinic having a small chat and she’s up instantly heading to the gate. Despite the gate open and this place being friendly with most, sometimes raiders or other hot headed people think they can take on a community. You’re weary as the stranger approaches the gate and the guard Kayla simply nods and he’s let in. Not a raider then thankfully.

You go into the clinic smiling at Jun before your body tenses, a scent invaded you and your mind reels back to Cooper. It feels like a bullet, quick hitting and build up flaring. You turn seeing the stranger, he’s hidden under his cowboy hat and cowboys outfit. Your body shakes at the familiarity of the outfit, the scent that hits your nose when a soft breeze comes. You can’t speak or say anything as he just stands there. Your mate bite seems to flare up in response knowing who gave it to you is here. What lands a killing blow though is that he walks away, walks down the road heading into the guns and ammo store. You let out a noise sounding like some strangled cat crying and take the extra long route back to Nora’s house where you slam your door shut and hide under your blanket.

[gravehags]

me every time @cirrus-ghoulette makes ghoul breeding program posts

thank you for your service holy shit

[ask-papa-terzo]

Okok what the "breeding program" consist in??

Sometimes it is safer and more fulfilling for ghouls to raise kits than for us to summon a new ghoul.

Omega acted as a, eh... Stud. For the program.

[abjectaspiringfailure]

Hello, in your response to one of my previous asks you mentioned that rc cells functioned like the Blacklight Virus did in Prototype. If I may ask, how so? Also, on a more random note, what would you think if there were a one-eyed ghoul featured in the series who was like Alex Mercer?

Hello, in your response to one of my previous asks you mentioned that rc cells functioned like the Blacklight Virus did in Prototype. If I may ask, how so?

Sorry this took so long to get to.

So as a preface for this post, I don’t personally believe Ishida was invoking these things in a way where he thought “this is primarily meant to be seen through the lens of the original 2009 [PROTOTYPE]”, but it is an interesting coincidence. Both Tokyo Ghoul and Prototype have a unique design style, and the result is a story that if you rush through will leave you going “well I guess things are complete but uh.... what?” Which is why Tokyo Ghoul had such a vast meta community that formed, and why Prototype has an active theory crafting community given its size and relative obscurity. Both have a web of intrigue that needed to be solved to get a good grasp on the story and arguably many things of importance are said and done offscreen.

I got absorbed in going on about both Prototype and Tokyo Ghoul, so I’m going back to put this here. I enjoyed how both of these series were basically puzzles to be solved, and I think both are misunderstood (though Tokyo Ghoul moreso than Prototype). I ended up writing a lot about the similarities that pertained to the question in the sense that there were ways the virus and RC cells had some similarities, but I ended up trimming it down significantly. So uh.

DX1118 functions by rewriting the host’s DNA to replicate. In most cases, there is death via organ failure. What “failure” and “lethality” means in the case of DX1118 is varied just like it is in Tokyo Ghoul with “success” and “floppies”; although the virus kills people, it brings them back as monsters. I’m tempted to believe this is referring to the attempts to weaponize the virus in the sense of creating super soldiers; a prelude to the DX1120 variant. The one mentioned to be Redlight explicitly has a 99.999 lethality rate.

In the case of DX1118 and its offshoots, “releasing what’s already there” means activating the non-coding areas of the genome. Essentially, the powers bestowed upon those who survive the virus in Prototype are not the result of the virus by itself, but rather the virus using things inside the human genome for mutations. The human genome actually has a rather hefty chunk of it made out of viruses that infected our ancestors and stayed in their system, roughly about 4 - 8%.

 I see Tokyo Ghoul humans as naturally progressing towards becoming ghouls due to RC cells and the way they adapted to the humans and influenced their genetic development. RC cells are not normal for humans, but the humans of the Tokyo Ghoul universe do not understand that because it seems to be the only thing they have ever known. An RC count of 200 - 500 is considered healthy and average. I believe RC cells are much like the viruses that inhabit the human genome; they’re something that’s been there all along in the Tokyo Ghoul universe.

I believe ghouls aren’t the result of just an entirely new species developing entirely separately but coincidentally being mirror replicas of humans down to anatomy, blood types, thought patterns, bone structures, and their ability to swap organs, but rather something that is the result of the RC cells in the system mutating them into new entities over time. RC cells, like the Blacklight virus, are very mutagenic. Unlike the Blacklight virus, I see most of these changes as being more gradual in the line of human -> ghoul.

It would go human - > human with “special investigator genes” (with RC cells that normal human levels but ghoul quality) -> human with “special investigator genes” and latent ROS genes having children with someone in the same position -> ghoul who cannot use a kagune (such as G&G) -> ghoul who can use a kagune -> ghoul with kakuja mutation genes - > ghoul with kakuja genes having children with kakuja genes - > kakuja

It’s more complex than that because of the way Ishida spread the information about with regards to ghoul and human biology. There’s also a lot of stuff that goes into that, with regards to ROS in both humans and ghouls, and stuff that I feel needs to be expanded upon. Eg stuff about the Oggai’s Frame A/Frame B divide, Nutcracker’s RC levels being listed as explicitly two separate types, kagunes and kakujas showing a consistent pattern of having traits of two RC types, Urie’s One Eye (Frame A)/Two Eye (Frame B), the Washuu breeding program, and how this all factors together (in the way I see it).

To get back to Blacklight and the similarities, I said this in the post you’re referring to, but I don’t think the Dragon toxin caused “ROS like symptoms”, I think the Dragon just caused ROS by increasing the RC cell levels of anyone it touched while introducing Washuu “born kakuja” genetics that can apparently form extra kakuhou pretty easily. Because there was so many cases, there was too many people to treat at once, and therefore they turned into ghouls. Usually, because the disease is so rare and much slower, it’s more controllable.

Shirazu’s sister, for example, didn’t have her ROS caused by RC cells from something so severe and there weren’t hundreds of thousands of other people who were infected, so Haru’s ROS was both slower and the resources to control it were more readily available.

When it comes to DX1118 and its variants, and RC Cells, I’m of the opinion that they work in different methods, but the effects are similar. Blacklight’s origin and true purpose is greatly muddled due to the way Prototype is written. Like Tokyo Ghoul, multiple pieces of information are ambiguous or outright lies.

There were many differing stories about what the true purpose of the Blacklight virus was - ranging from some type of super human serum meant to increase human strength and intellect, to a weapon designed to kill off specific ethnic groups, to some evolutionary compound meant to force the planet to change into a new being, to some form of inevitability that would have to be engaged regardless. This makes a lot of the information involved murky; this is actually acknowledged in universe as being completely intentional. The actual origins of DX1118 isn’t stated, as far as we can tell from the information given, it just sort of popped up out of nowhere.

The origin of RC cells is also shrouded in mystery. Ghouls are a worldwide phenomenon, so, logically, RC cells should be universal. Otherwise, ghouls would not be able to feed. It is also stated that a normal, healthy human being has between 200 - 500 RC cells, which implies that not having any RC cells is considered either unhealthy or abnormal. I’d speculate that RC cells themselves would therefore have to be either hundreds of thousands of years old and tied to the evolution of humans in the Tokyo Ghoul universe, or, spread like a contagion. The Washuu themselves became “born Kakujas” due to centuries of cannibalization before they even made it to Japan, and by the the time the Washuu became known as legendary human ghoul hunters, they were already almost indistinguishable from the local population and were identified as Japanese nobility.

So, their origins are rather different, but they have the same air of mystery about them, and they touch on similar topics. The methods they get used is different, but the conspiracy has significant overlap.

The way Blacklight works when it infects a host is via changing the host cell by activating the non-coding regions of the genome. A substantial chunk of the human genome is actually believed to be now dormant viruses that infected our ancestors, who survived them, and lived on to procreate. In Prototype, this translates to the virus mutating the human body to achieve superhuman abilities, in theory? In actuality, the failure rates of the virus are rather substantial. But if you reword it, 99.9% lethality rate translates to a .1% success rate.

TG;re 44

These failure rates are comparable to the original Kanou kakuhou transplantation procedure, if less survivable. (This isn’t including the 99.999% lethality variant or the one that was made to be 10x more lethal and mutagenic than that). The failure rates for the Kanou procedure are substantial, but even the failures are reminiscent of the Blacklight “Runners” that are seen moving around the city - though that feels like it’s the result of the “zombies” theme.

TG;re 1

While I don’t recall if it’s ever stated how the DX1120 virus differs from the DX1118 variants, the D-Codes work using similar logic to the Qs and Oggai. Both use the “power of their enemy” to fight back against them, rather than using technology such as firearms. The description of the D-Codes is essentially the same as the Qs. They use the virus to increase their metabolism, strength, durability, and even regenerative functions.

The effort put into this biology system seemed immense, and the way the information is sprinkled in seems very organic.

There was other stuff about similarities between Arima and Cross, Blackwatch and V, Elizabeth Green and Roma/Eto/Rize, but I feel like that’s a bit off topic from the question, and I think this would have been answered immediately had I not tried to explore all of those avenues. I tried to keep this more on topic to the question, but I feel the flow regardless suffered. This is kinda the issue I have with ghoul biology stuff that threw a wrench into the post. It makes sense when you look at the big picture, but taking it all separately and dispersing it to a single point makes it seem nonsensical.

I kind of hope that explains it better. I’m going to try to revisit the ghoul biology post and just sorta accept that it’s not going to flow as easily as a character analysis post because it’s more technical in nature and the information is scattered between hundreds of chapters.

edit:

oh wait, forgot something.

Also, on a more random note, what would you think if there were a one-eyed ghoul featured in the series who was like Alex Mercer?

I think about this concept a lot. The idea of an Alex Mercer like character unwrapping things in Tokyo Ghoul sounds like an interesting concept. When you mean like Alex Mercer, you mean an AOEG that is trying to unravel the mysteries involved, and any time they eat someone’s RC cells, they get the knowledge inside of them type of deal? Alex Mercer as he is in the original Prototype would likely work with Aogiri Tree. Alex Mercer as he is in Prototype 2 would probably become a member of the Clowns as an actual member, or one of the philosophical Clowns that end up screwing over Kaneki and helping out the Clowns, like Yamori or Chie Hori. 

Prototype Alex Mercer would probably start off opposed to both the CCG and Aogiri Tree, assuming you’re starting him off in Tokyo without his memories. He seems like he’d end up getting played, set up, and gaslighted by the Clowns like Kaneki, Eto, and Mutsuki were.  I imagine Mercer would quickly turn sides though once they realizes V exists and they’d probably set their sights on killing off the Clowns. tbh Mercer would probably succeed. Alex Mercer’s mindset means initially they’re going to be dancing in the palm of their hands, but the  powerset means it’s only a matter of time before everything gets revealed. Dealing almost solely in deception, gaslighting, and emotional manipulation is kind of an awful idea against a guy who can piece things together and blow your entire conspiracy to pieces. This would be like a “Karen Parker” situation, only the Clowns aren’t really used to hiding so much as sitting out in the open and none of them would be strong enough to beat someone with Alex Mercer’s powerset even in ghoul form tbh.

He’d probably join Aogiri Tree and Goat in the long run, even if briefly. The story would go off the rails long before Goat would form, though.

Alex Mercer at the end of Prototype is a different beast entirely but also kinda hard to figure out; the original writer wasn’t involved with a lot of the stuff after, and the Prototype 2 Alex Mercer feels like the original got consumed by like the Supreme Hunter and it just decided to wear his skin. Prototype 2 was originally Spiderman 4 before it was reskinned to be Protoype 2 so like everything was already set up and in place and it’s obvious that Father G was Uncle Ben, Mercer was Dr. Octavius, Heller was Peter, “viral sonar” is spidersense, etc. The writer that took over apparently hated Alex Mercer, from what I was told by people who talked to the guy. Isn’t really a good thing to go into writing with. Salt towards Alex Mercer being demonized is kinda universal. Heller had some good moments, but I felt his character was wasted. Wish the game just stayed as Spiderman 4, and Prototype 2 was on the Xbox One/PS4 rather than what Activision forced Radical to do.

I guess you could say that Prototype 2 is to the original Prototype what the anime is to Tokyo Ghoul.

But, we can infer things. It’s likely Mercer would be distrustful of everyone due to the experience with the Supreme Hunter, but very unsure of themselves. Automatic opposition to the scary conspiracy group is guaranteed. There’s an automatic opposition to killing indiscriminately from a character perspective even if the game doesn’t punish you for it; by the end, Alex is even fed up with killing soldiers who aren’t commanders. I’m not sure if he’d join up with Aogiri. Aogiri avoided civilian population centers and kept their targets military in nature, yes. On the other hand, they also just told ghouls like Torso “yo, knock it off, the CCG will getcha” and they let the Clowns or ghouls like Big Madam roam free and even worked with them, even if in the later case it was related to trying to see if Takizawa would awaken Haise’s memories.

Goat is a possibility. Kaneki’s strategy of disarming the CCG would probably be something Alex Mercer would go for. I imagine he’d also just go right for Furuta’s throat. The only reason this wasn’t done in the original Prototype was because Blackwatch’s commander was on the Reagan and was shooting anyone who got close out of the sky. Canonically the WOI does confirm an attempt to just fly therw with a helicopter only to get intercepted, and Alex also mentions that when they have their conversation with the Supreme Hunter.

Most likely though, Alex Mercer would end up working with Hide’s group and helping Kurona if he finds out about Kurona’s story. Especially Kurona. She’s simultaneously after a mad scientist who turned her into a monster, and she’s also Dana’s age. I see him helping her in her quest to get back at Kanou. With Hide, Alex sorta uses any help he can get, and Hide seems like he’d find Mercer because he’s just that good.

I think they would work with Eto if Eto opened up to them but.. Eto doesn’t really open up to people unless they violently maim her, like Kaneki or Arima. She might end up becoming interested in Alex if Alex starts trying to kill her, like Kaneki, but man. That’s not healthy.

Prototype 2 Alex Mercer, like I said, would likely be on board with the Clowns, but probably only from a philosophical sense. He agrees with their surface level stuff - the world is awful, people need to be killed, nothing matters, releasing giant monsters that kill millions is hilarious, innocent people deserve to be tortured, children are fair game, cause terror for lols, work with the conspiracy that controls the world while also killing its members because that’s fun and convenient, etc. Whether or not he ends up joining them outright or being like Yamori or Horie is up in the air, but I imagine he’d not be allowed. Furuta’s very good at analysis so I assume he’d see Alex as a threat from the get go and would keep him at a distance at all times.

Most likely it would end up in some weird battle with Mercer and Furuta being the main combatants just screwing with each other using secret agents, and Kaneki’s just. Kaneki. And gets stuck in the middle of it, just barely surviving. P2′s Mercer’s “here’s free viral powers kids” probably translates to kakuho implantation that’s even more casual than Eto’s, and his ability to just fire off viral clouds everywhere would most likely translate to him having the ability to just blast Dragon toxin. Alex in P2 gyrates pretty violently between “invincible and impossibly incompetent” to “literally so incompetent he gives the person trying to kill him the power to kill him and slowly feeds him powerups while letting them ruin his plans before stepping in and immediately giving up once a single attempt to murder them doesn’t work and then decides to go back to feeding them powerups until they can kill him” so.

I’m not sure if he’d like, do what Furuta did to Kaneki and give him the power to kill him, only entirely on purpose instead of accidentally, or if he’d just. Instantly vaporize all of his opponents.

He probably gives Eto, Kaneki, and Mutsuki power ups and then goes around trying to piss them off while claiming he’d trying to destroy V and Furuta. And he would actually, really, be trying to stop V and Furuta, but also he wouldn’t be, and he’s be working with them, but he wouldn’t.

He’d go to America, kill Heller’s family, and then turn Heller into a OEG that kills him.

You didn’t mention Heller, but there’s no way he’d be okay with V or the Clowns or probably even Anteiku (because Anteiku okayed set up civilian hunting grounds). He’d also oppose Aogiri Tree for the same reasons I think post Prototype 1 Alex would, but he might work with them like he did Rooks if he saw them as useful. The moment Furuta marches out the Oggai, if it came to that, he’d probably just go right for Furuta. The only reason Heller doesn’t do this with Mercer is because Mercer is hiding, but otherwise he’s pretty keen on just going to his current target and punching them in the face out in broad daylight surrounded by witnesses. And turning a bunch of children into the Oggai and having them go around slaughtering people would definitely set Heller off.

The story would also go off the rails.

I mean if you mean a One Eyed Ghoul with amnesia running around NYC slowly unraveling the secret surrounding V’s American Branch in the form of Blackwatch and imaging a scenario? I think that would be pretty cool, personally.

TG 141

There’s a lot of potential for a Tokyo Ghoul game in the style of Prototype. A lot of the powers that work in Prototype feel like they’d feel right at home in Tokyo Ghoul and vice verse. Eg the wallrunning could be explain with kagune wallrunning that Eto and Kaneki show. You could have a spiritual successor to Cross and some overarching super ghoul investigator counterpart to Arima, but his thing would be entirely different?

TG 112, 138

Less Arima’s “this literally doesn’t make sense, how did Arima hit that attack, he’s literally not holding anything and how did he just shoot lightning out of his quinque that can’t shoot lightning when he’s got that quinque in a box I originally thought this was an art mistake but he literally just keeps doing impossible things and they’re even lampshading in the manga so wait did he pull out Narukami and put it back into the box just to troll???”

(I think ishida does stuff like this where he messes with things like this for artistic reasons in this case it entirely works and helps hit home how invincible Arima is, and I originally thought it was art mistakes but it’s not)

And more “Shinohara, but on steroids”. Cross in Prototype was a very maneuverable surprisingly well armed opponent who could take a beating relative to most other enemies you faced outside of, for example, the Supreme Hunter. Similar type of opponent but also different. Like have the guy use multiple +SS and SSS rate quinques as standard, and he’s also got an SSS rate kakuja quinque and he can take a beating because of it, too. Not that he’s unskilled; he’s very skilled, just less so than Arima. Maybe have him also be the final boss like Arima was the final boss in the original Tokyo Ghoul, but just make him an absolute monster that completely and utterly destroys people. Maybe even have it be a no win scenario to fight the guy? Have it come up that “oh well this guy right here is attacking your friends but if you fight him, you’re going to die no matter what, don’t risk it” and you have a choice and if you choose to fight him, the game switches genres to horror and you just die. Not an easy fight to die in either.

They should definitely make a game about that. Just, spiritual successor to the original Prototype and have Detwiller and Ishida just run wild with the insane conspiracy theory story and their under the radar references to their knowledge of the military, economics, Kafka, numbers, trolling, and Lovecraft.

Just make the story impossible to understand, you know? You have to find 248 different cutscenes to get part of the story explicitly, and to unlock some of the cutscenes you have to hack into the game code to pull out poems made out of ASCII images of Ishida’s art. But to get the art, you have to pull a bunch of stuff off of twitter, relatively obscure secondary material, and some of it has to be found long after the launch of the game. Like, just maybe throw a random string of numbers into an art book released a year after the game was launched and have the numbers related to the code just hidden and you just... can’t find them? But only maybe, you’re not sure.

Throw Walt Williams from Spec Ops: The Line in there too. Have him contribute. All decisions are simultaneously wrong and correct at the same time. Nothing makes sense - but it totally does. You know what you’re doing is wrong. Or do you? None of these horrors would have happened if you’d just stopped, but you can’t stop. Not now, not when you’re so close. This person you’re pursuing, they’re definitely the bad guy. You’re in the clear. You’re not being tricked, you’re not mistaken, you made these decisions rationally. Your friends are in danger, you’re not bringing danger to them.

You feel so powerful and then boom, it happens. snap back to reality. And you should have seen it coming, but you didn’t. It’s not that it wasn’t there, it’s just that you weren’t looking - you decided “I’m not going to look”. You ignored what was right in front of you for some silly fantasy and it all hurts so much and oh god, everything is burning, help help help. Why didn’t anyone listen, I feel so alone.

and then have another spinoff spiritual successor flip from tokyo to new york in a surprise twist and it turns out that you were just starring in the villains’ self insert selfcest genderbender trollfic the e n t i r e t i m e or something it’s ambiguous I guess you gotta figure it out and no one will believe you and everything is just trolling

[linkspooky]

Hi! Do you believe that Washuu wanted to become human?

It’s really unclear? The series never goes into detail with the Washuu, or what they were trying to achieve with the garden. We have several conflicting accounts as to their motivation. 

It’s entirely possible that Arima’s original line “maybe they wanted to find a way to become human” was speculation or even projection on his part. After all, Arima as a character is built around this longing to become human, when he could only ever really pass for human. He was almost the same but not quite human, and never treated like a human, and never got to live the peaceful lives that humans lead. So Arima could have just been projecting what he desired as a half human onto the Washuu. 

This is a pretty common theme in relation to Arima. He comes across this in Jack when he meets a ghoul so obsessed with pretending to be human, that she is the star student of her class and is obsessed with being a perfect schoolgirl and her exams, and then kills human delinquents because they’re wasting the peaceful lives they’re so privileged to have. He gets asked this question by Fura by the end and just avoids even thinking about the answer. 

The Washuu themselves give no clear explanation what they were trying to achieve with their breeding projects. Tsuneyoshi acts like it was the punishment for their ancestors being selfish but doesn’t elaborate on that vague statement at all. 

Kanou also tells us a little bit of the story. That they were a clan from the middle east of ghouls that hunted other ghouls. This is also likely how they established themselves in the formation of the CCG, by making a deal with the humans to hunt their own kind for a measure of political power and safety. 

The Washuu struck some kind of bargain and hold considerable political power in Japan even as ghouls. It’s hard to discern a reason why they would want to become more human when they were already sitting on the throne and they weren’t going hungry. 

The breeding was already happening before the first one eyed king came into existence. As not only did they use the forces of V to eventually repel him. 

In fact the first one eyed king was created from their breeding. Which means for certain we know for a long time the Washuu have been trying to create a perfect ghoul / human hybrid by any means necessary. It was the Washuu who started the hybridization experiments, both Kanou’s experiments, and Chigyou’s which led to the articial Quinx Program, and the Oggai. However they can’t have just been starting those programs to gain greater power in the war against ghouls, because the Washuu already had all the manpower to kill ghouls, and they cared very little if the investigators suffered casualties because it meant more food for them and they already had plenty of recruits to replace them. 

The Washuu were obsessed with creating a perfect ghoul hybrid, they even wanted to track down Eto who was the first half ghoul rather than half human born since the last one eyed king. However, to what ends its never quite clear. The main family line that is Tsuneoyshi -> Yoshitoki -> Matsuri all seem to be full blooded ghouls. Matsuri expresses not only a complete disdain for ghouls but also a hatred of his own blood. 

However, they don’t try to indtroduce human blood into the main line. They intentionally kept a pure washuu bloodline going instead of say trying to thin the ghoul blood in their genes. 

My best guess is that the Washuu want the power of being a ghoul, that is the absolute physical strength of having a kagune, the ability to heal and regenerate, and the long life, while at the same time they also want the privilege of being human. As long as they were unable to eat human food it was always possible they might be found out. Despite their social status it was something they had to hide continually and could have been stripped of all political power at any time if they didn’t keep the secret well enough. 

Matsuri expresses despite the fact that the Washuu family has privilege and power that he also has felt confined. It could be something as simple as they were simply tired of pretending to be human, but they also didn’t want to give up the power they had as ghoul. That power led to the horrible abuses the Washuu  committed. 

[cirrus-ghoulette]

Could we maybe get some more ministry breeding program Rain? All the bits with him are so tasty

Of course.

This post was completely inspired by @copia-mpreg btw

So, Rain is a ghoul tease, but he also occasionally breeds. But not in the way you'd think.

You may remember a little post I did about Rain having a tentacle down there...

Well. What about Rain donating the eggs he lays? They'd just go to waste otherwise.

He has to have someone he trusts handling him. Otherwise, the tentacle will hide in its' sheath and refuse to come out.

It's easier for both him and Aether for him to lay in an examination chair. Aether rolls up his sleeves and dons some gloves, then does a precursory examination of Rain's lower stomach. It's a little swollen, a little bumpy with the soft eggs ready to pop out.

Once Aether has checked that all the eggs are ready, by gently palpating his stomach and feeling them shift, he works in teasing out Rain's tentacle.

He coats his fingers in lubricant (not that Rain needs it, but it's a habit) and reaches between his legs, gently tickling over the small opening where Rain's clit would be.

"Shy today, huh?"

"She didn't like you pressing on her eggs."

"Aw, poor girl."

He parts Rain's legs a little further in the stirrups. Peers down between them as he continues to rub the pad of his finger against the opening.

"That's it, Rain. Just relax for me, okay? She's thinking about it."

Slowly, the tentacle emerges. It twists around curiously for a moment, then wraps around Aether's wrist.

"Yeah, see? Knew you'd recognise me once you were out. Atta girl."

Carefully, Aether unwinds the tentacle from his wrist. It's flushed and thicker at the base than usual, a sign that it's ready to lay.

A sibling brings over a collection tray, which Aether slots into place between Rain's spread legs. He needs both hands free for this job.

With one hand, he begins methodically massaging Rain's belly. With the other hand, he holds the base of Rain's tentacle, waiting to feel the first lump there.

"Come on... There's a good girl... Rain's so full of your eggs, let's help him out a little..."

"S'coming... O-Oh, Belial..."

"I know. Just relax, Rain. I know it feels weird, but it'll go much easier for all of us if you relax... Yeah, there we go, good boy..."

Slowly, the first egg slips down from Rain's womb. It travels through the tentacle, a visible lump, and then wetly splurts into the collection tray. About the size of a ping pong ball, very squishy, and see through.

"Good boy, Rain. That's it, just like that."

Rain's thighs are trembling. The feeling of the egg sliding through him just feels so good that he-

A thick spurt of slick from his tentacle lands in the tray.

"Ooh... Don't worry about that, Rain. It's completely normal to get aroused during this experience. I'm glad that you're relaxed enough to produce that for me."

"Y-Yeah... 'Course..."

The next half an hour is spent in mostly silence, spare for Rain's whimpers, Aether's words of encouragement, and the loud squirting sound every time an egg pops out of the tentacle.

By the time the last egg comes around, Rain has quite an impressive clutch in the collection tray, and he's feeling much better. Less bloated.

Aether presses the final egg down, always the biggest, and it slowly squishes through Rain's reproductive system. Rain flinches when it reaches the base of his tentacle.

"Hooh... Oh, gods..."

"I know. I know. It's pretty big. It's alright, though. Won't be too much longer and then it'll be out. You've just got to be brave for me, Rain."

"'Kay..."

"Good boy."

Rain's face is pinched as aether eases the egg down through his tentacle, the bulge slowly slipping through the length of it until it slowly breaches the tip. After a sharp gasp from Rain, the final egg drops into the tray.

Rain's sore, but very satisfied. Aether has the tray taken away before Rain can look and get grossed out by the sight of his eggs. Aether carefully lets his legs down from the stirrups and massages his thighs while a sibling offers him a sip of water. Rain gets told just what a good boy he is, how his eggs will help with the Ministry Breeding Program.

Rain can't wait for the next session.

[theonyxpath]

Changeling: The Lost 2nd art by Michael Gaydos

Rich is away this week (see last week’s MMN) and I have temporarily taken over the blog! Speaking of the blog, we’re working hard to get a lot more content for you in addition to our new releases featured on Wednesday and our previews of fiction on Fridays. This includes more excerpts and previews of upcoming books, developer notes about games and settings they are working on (take a look at Eddy Webb’s Claws and Effect launch post for example), plus a new series all about creating characters for our RPGs. We’re kicking off this new series tomorrow with a post from Bill Bodden, who’s work you maybe have read in Ghouls & Revenants and Madison by Night for V20, plus upcoming books like World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters and Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers for Pugmire. Bill will start a bi-monthly series with a new character for Exalted 3rd Edition and then move on to other core books. Plus we’ll have guest posts from other Onyx Path crewmembers and maybe a few surprises along the way, too. Our goal with this series is twofold: first, take some of the intimidation out of building new characters and (hopefully) encourage new fans to jump in and play and second, nudge experienced players to dive deeper into their players and think about this important aspect of gaming.

In other exciting news, last week Rich announced the Salrecian Vault community content program for our Scarred Lands fantasy setting. Much like the Canis Minor community content program for the Pugmire RPG, we’re getting ready to launch this community content program soon. You can read the current FAQ for the upcoming program here on our forums. I’m really looking forward to seeing new adventures, classes, Ghelspad locations, and more! Remember, our Scarred Lands program will be open to both Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition systems. If you’re curious about this setting, all you need is the Scarred Lands Player’s Guide to get started.

Pan’s Guide art by Pat Loboyko

White Wolf’s V5 distribution partner announced.

Our friends at White Wolf just announced that Modiphius will be acting as their distributor for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition. Since there’s already been some confusion about this deal, remember this is about distribution as opposed to publishing. White Wolf is still designing and producing the new corebook in hous, and Modiphius acts as the hub to ship this new rulebook out to stores and more. If you’re curious about this deal, you can read the press release on the White Wolf Facebook page, and further questions should be directed toward them. Stay tuned to the Monday Meeting Notes and our Gen Con panels for more Vampire news from the Onyx Path team.

Speaking of Gen Con…

Event Registration for Gen Con Indy just went live yesterday! You can search and sign-up for a ton of games, panels, and more! The Wrecking Crew will be on hand running all kinds of World of Darkness, Pugmire, Scion, Chronicles of Darkness, and other games the entire convention. We will also have a demo crew in the Onyx Path booth (#501 again). If you are going to be at Gen Con, we’d love to hear from you.

Kithbook Boggans art by Brian Leblanc

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

We’re in the final hours of the EX3‘s Dragon-Blooded Kickstarter and we’re over 400% funded with over 2000 backers so far!

We’ve hit 24 Stretch Goal rewards, and counting, including a t-shirt, two more silk bookmarks (at least!), increased art budget, a Dragon-Blooded novella, adding on the Storyteller Screen, opening up additional Reward Tiers for more custom charms and artifacts; new Charms, 2 sections of info on Lookshy, 2 sections on the Forest Witches, 2 sections on Outcastes, Cadet Houses, and Prasad to the Heirs to the Shogunate Dragon-Blooded Companion PDF and lots more! Phew!

Thanks so much for everybody’s support so far! Even though we’re doing great, the best is yet to come and we hope that folks can get the word out on their social media and to their friends. Everybody deserves a chance to check out this latest EX3 “fatsplat” for the most elemental of the Exalted.

Which every backer can do, because each week of the campaign we’re releasing a quarter of the Dragon-Blooded book’s text so that backers can check the whole thing out by the time we are done. We think you’ll really love what we’ve done with the DBs, but if for some reason you don’t, you can drop your pledge before the KS is over and walk away easy peasy!

So, here’s the link and see you there! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/dragon-blooded-what-fire-has-wrought-for-exalted-3

  As we try and find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

The devs have added a whole bunch of new game lines’ dice and rolling bg’s and got caught by a bug Apple needed to fix, so be sure to update your app and soon that should be fixed.

There’s been tweaks to all elements of the UI, you can now preview every die type in the store, and you can use multiple die types per roll! Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en

Three different screenshots, above.

(The Solar Anima special Dice above)

  Promethean: The Created and Demon: The Descent dice on a Demon: The Descent tabletop

  Hunter: The Reckoning and Mage: The Awakening dice on a Mage: The Awakening tabletop

      ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

Our latest fiction offerings are a classic Scarred Lands fantasy book, and our latest Chronicles of Darkness anthology: the Huntsmen Chronicles for Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition!

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

  Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

  And here are six more fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

  Andand six more more:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

  And even more books are now on Amazon and the Nook store!:

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

    OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

    Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

Wave 3 of our extra Kickstarter projects is now on sale at IPR!

Here are the direct links for the Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras Prestige Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Chronicles-of-Darkness-Dark-Eras-Prestige-Edition.html

Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Chronicles-of-Darkness-Dark-Eras-Storytellers-Screen.html

Deluxe Exalted 3rd Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Deluxe-Edition.html

Ultra-Deluxe (Orichalcum) Exalted 3rd Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Ultra-Deluxe.html

Exalted 3rd Edition Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Storytellers-Screen.html

EX3 Chibi Bookmarks: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Chibi-Bookmarks.html

Deluxe W20 Shattered Dreams: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/W20-Shattered-Dreams-Deluxe-Edition.html

W20 Shattered Dreams Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/W20-Shattered-Dreams-Storytellers-Screen.html

Plus price adjustments on M20, Book of the Wyrm, Anarchs Unbound and a few other projects!

    DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

Ask the darkness, and it shall answer: the Beast: The Primordial Player’s Guide PDF and physical book PoD versions will answer your questions Wednesday! on DTRPG.com! http://drivethrurpg.com/product/236135/Beast-Players-Guide

The Beast Player’s Guide expands on the material presented in Beast: The Primordial, with additional information on the Families and Hungers, what it feels like to be a Beast and experience the Devouring, and how to commune with the Dark Mother. You’ll also find two new Families and two new Hungers!

The book also includes a plethora of new Atavisms, Nightmares, Merits, and Birthrights, as well as systems for creating smaller, subservient versions of the Horror, new forms of Inheritance, and details on the mysterious Obcasus Rites.

        There are some things that even a Demon fears – Night Horrors: Enemy Action for Demon: The Descent has arrived in PDF and physical book PoD versions: http://drivethrurpg.com/product/236133/Night-Horrors-Enemy-Action

“Fighting the Machine is like fighting the ocean. You literally cannot hurt it. Doesn’t matter how much poison we dump into the ocean. We’ll only kill the things in it. We’ll never kill it. Same with the God-Machine. Kill angels, traitors, stigmatics, cultists, cryptids, whatever, you’ll never hurt the Machine Itself. No, that doesn’t mean we stop trying. You stop trying, you drown. Screw that.”

—Mr. Bliss, Guardian Inquisitor

Night Horrors: Enemy Action includes:

• Dozens of Storyteller characters, including Unchained, angels, exiles, cryptids, and stigmatics, for use as antagonists, allies, or just inspiration

• Multiple plot hooks and story seeds for your Demon: The Descent chronicles

• A brief look at cults in Demon, including the Ten Thousand Names of God, a secret society fueled by the God-Machine

      When you need a Changeling 20th character and a way to get started with C20: here are the C20 Ready Made Characters in PDF and physical book PoD versions! Available on DriveThruRPG.com! http://drivethrurpg.com/product/225641/C20-Ready-Made-Characters

Running a one-shot game of Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition? Starting up a chronicle with new players who aren’t sure what to play? Looking for some examples of how the various kiths might look?

Thanks to our generous Kickstarter backers, these thirteen ready-made characters cover each of the Changeling kiths. Each character is provided with background, roleplaying suggestions, art, and some potential motleys and story seeds — everything you need to immerse yourself in the Dreaming!

        Coming NOW as both PDF and physical book PoD on DTRPG, we reveal The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb, a Jumpstart adventure for Pugmire. www.drivethrurpg.com/product/232337/The-Secrets-of-Vinsens-Tomb–A-Pugmire-Jumpstart

A cat living in Pugmire disappears, but neither the police dogs nor the cats of the Cat Quarter know why. When zombies attack the heroes, however, all signs point to an invasion by the Monarchies of Mau. But how does this intrigue tie into the lost tomb of the first king of Pugmire?

The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb is a Pugmire story for three to six characters. This jumpstart contains all the rules and characters you need to play — just grab some dice and go! You can also use this adventure with the full version of Pugmire.

The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb contains:

• An evocative and mysterious setting that’s both family friendly and deep enough to create compelling stories.

• A summary of Pugmire’s traditional fantasy rules system. It’s designed for streamlined play, with an emphasis on cooperation and action over competition and violence.

• A complete adventure for a Guide to run for three to six players. Also useful for Guides running a full Pugmire game of first or second level characters!

• Six ready-to-play characters, so you can jump into the action.

Can your good dogs discover the secret of Vinsen’s Tomb?

  Also available NOW, are two physical PoD spell card packs and PDFs for Pugmire: the Artisans‘ and the Shepherds‘ spells.

        Appearing now on DriveThruRPG are the PDF and PoD physical book versions of Arms of the Chosen for Exalted 3rd Edition! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/226224/Arms-of-the-Chosen

Take up the panoply of legendary heroes and lost ages, and awaken the world-shaking might of their Evocations. Before the dawn of time, the Exalted wielded god-metal blades to cast down the makers of the universe. In an ancient epoch of forgotten glories, Creation’s greatest artificers forged unimaginable wonders and miracle-machines.

Now, in the Age of Sorrows, kingdoms go to war over potent artifacts, scavenger princes risk everything to uncover relics of the past, and the Exalted forge great arms and armor on the anvil of legend. These treasures are yours to master.

Discover the mystical power of the five magical materials and the secrets of creating your own Evocations. Wield weapons of fabled might and don the armor of mythic heroes, making their puissance your own. Claim Creation’s wonders: the miraculous tools of the Chosen, living automatons, flying machines, hearthstones, and more. And unleash the mighty warstriders, titanic god-engines of conquest and devastation, to once more shake Creation with their footfalls.

      CONVENTIONS!

Fast Eddy Webb will be attending the East Coast Game Designers Conference (ECGC) all this week in Raleigh, NC, where he’ll be presenting a seminar called “Writing for Franchises”.

So if you are going and want to meet up, let us know!

  And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Aberrant 2nd Edition (Trinity Continuum)

Lunars (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

  Redlines

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

  Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

  Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Fetch Quest (Pugmire)

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

  Editing:

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

  Post-Editing Development:

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Gods & Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Indexing:

    ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Scion Hero

Changeling: the Lost 2 – Sketches and finals coming in.

Trinity Continuum

Boggans – Contracted.

Wr20 Guide for Newly Departed – Everything with Gaydos.

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

Wraith 20 Screen 

Fetch Quest – Working on the logo. KS How To Play video was shot last week.

EX3 Dragon Blooded

Monarchies of Mau

  Proofing

Cavaliers of Mars – Splats and map should be in by end of the month.

Scion Origin

  At Press

Beckett Screen – At shipper.

Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – At fulfillment shipper. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG.

Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition – Rewards are shipping.

Prince’s Gambit – Being sent to the US.

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary– Deluxe edition files at printer. Interior proof approved, printing now.

Scion Dice – At fulfillment shipper.

Wraith 20 – Errata phase.

Beast PG – Final PDF and physical book PoD on sale Wednesday at DTRPG.com.

SL Champions of the Scarred Lands Anthology PoD – Uploaded and processing.

Pugmire – Pan’s Explorer’s Guide (or whatever) – Backer PDFs out, errata?

Book of Freeholds – Backer PDF out to backers, errata being posted.

  CONVENTIONS!

Matthew Dawkins, Steffie de Vaan, and I will be at the UK Games Expo in June running games and talking shop with fans and retailers. Prep is also underway for Gen Con 2018 in August, which takes place in Indianapolis, IN. In addition to our booth presence, be sure to check out the games and panels in the Gen Con Event Schedule.

If you are going and want to meet up, let us know!

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: With convention season in full swing and plenty of new games on the way this year I’m really looking forward to meeting many of you and trying out different play styles, genres, and more!

[creepy-crowleys]

They have an entire helicopter.

A tribe of particularly potent ghouls once inhabited the Ankh, until one Dr. Klein ejected them. The German scientist took some small interest in the species, at first using specimens to dispose of failed experiment subjects, and then beginning a small breeding program, on a whim, to produce more intelligent ghouls.

[ask-papa-terzo]

Does Omega have a bit of a…breeding kink? It seems common among the ghouls

Si, yes. He volunteered for the Ministry's ghoul breeding program at one point, and really enjoyed it.

[zionmantis]

Anybody interested in my OCs?

I’m working on the last humorous fandom suggestion that I got; I’m not getting a lot of traction with that (you’re still more than welcome to send me funny fandom-related things that you want to see me draw; I can think of things myself, but I feel so much better about drawing something if I know at least one other person is going to enjoy it,) so maybe I’ll post some of my OCs and see if people want to see me draw any of them, in any situation.

The Zion Mantis and Kid Ant - Fallout:New Vegas; Honest Hearts OCs. The Zion Mantis is a White Leg who helped destroy New Canaan but was later abandoned by her tribe after she became ghoulified. Kid Ant is an eight-year-old orphan; one of the last living Mormons left in the settlement. Anuk (The Zion Mantis) ends up taking care of him, and he decides they should be ‘superheroes’ going around and doing good deeds. (Whether or not Anuk totally understands this is somewhat up in the air; her English is very poor.)

Kellmar ‘Skinny’ Three Creeks - Fallout: New Vegas OC. Former Blue Horn (my made-up Fallout tribals,) one of the many absorbed into the White Glove Society. Was their original chef and considered quite good, but decided after a few tries with it that cannibalism just wasn’t for him. Has a naked cat named Stew Cat that he was originally going to eat after escaping the Strip, but she grew on him and now she’s his Stew Cat. Although he’s generally pretty easy going, he HATES the Fiends’ chef, Cook-Cook, and very much wants to murder him. ...Whether this is entirely due to Cook-Cook’s sullying of the names of chefs everywhere by being a rapist and not washing his hands, or if it’s professional jealousy, or a mix... this is also somewhat up in the air. ‘Skinny’ is a misnomer. 

Peaches - Kind of a take on Fallout 4′s MC, but with a different twist. Peaches was definitely frozen in 111, but was more of a bored stereotypical housewife than a lawyer. Wears thick glasses and complicated blonde hair. Has an unabashed ghoul fetish. 

Lulu - My Fallout 3 OC. Dark-skinned, 19, and good with machines but bad at judgment. She also wears thick glasses, probably because I like to wear glasses in Fallout games. 

Josiah C. Asher and Garrett Finch - These are not actually my OCs but my take on the main characters of Heather Albano’s excellent novel/game A Study in Steampunk. (They’re also the subjects of the last scenario-related suggestion I got.) I picture Garrett Finch like a blonde, curly-haired, mustachioed Sherlock Holmes and his husband Josiah is a gigantic behemoth of an awkward doctor who later becomes a gay serial killer before converting to the sun temple (because that’s how I like to play my games.) 

Gretel - my Baldur’s Gate (DnD universe) half-orc. She’s good at making weapons and yelling. All the guys and gals think she’s hot. 

King Andrew - part of Sugar Isles before that died after an episode of mine and a  couple hospitalizations last year (WOO ENOUGH OF THAT,) but he still holds a diabetic place in my heart. Pear-shaped 1950s greaser gang leader who nonetheless dresses like a bowtied dork and ends up sucked into a fantasy sugar-coated world of talking gummy bears and made their king. Will eat, like, pretty much anything. 

Silver Blitz - Young speedster leader of a gang of unregistered chaotic-good superheroes called Lawless. Exists in the generic superhero universe that exists in my mind and in both DC and Marvel universes, (because I can’t decide.) Has the typical speedster attitude but is also on a massive quest for personal fame (kind of like a female version of Booster Gold, but in a lower income situation.) I came up with her after playing DC Online for like two weeks back in 2014 and @mxcatterbug (very rightly) told me that my original hero name, Red Rush, sounded like a time-of-the-month thing. Anyway, Blitz is... annoying. And silver. 

Commander Lacer - My newest OC since me and @mxcatterbug started a Mass Effect RP. Lacer is the Salarian commander of a new Council-based mission, part of a pilot program similar to the Specters, except with more oversight. A Lawful Good, knightly-type of character completely loyal to the council who is oddly (for a Salarian) not very good with intellectual pursuits. This may have to do with his backstory - he’s actually secretly Lystheni (Mass Effect fandom-wiki rules,) and falsified his credentials so he could work for the council a few years ago. Unlike most salarians, who only live to be about 40 or so, Lacer is 300+ years old due to the krogan DNA re-sequencing of the exiled Lystheni. Has a hard time pretending to be a normal salarian due to his perceived ugliness by other salarians (’he’ll never be chosen for breeding rituals!’) and the fact that he needs a good 8+ hours of sleep a night, not the normal salarian’s 1 hour. This leads to a lot of mistakes. Nevertheless, he is an utter sweetheart. 

Veer Etna - A male, stubby Volus (well, I don’t think they come in any other body type,) who was quite the formidable assassin among his own people, but is more of a laughing stock now that he’s attempting to ply his trade out there in the galaxy. *heavy breathing*  

I have a ton more but I think this is enough for now. Unfortunately, as much as I adore it, I don’t have any Dishonored ocs. Always looking for Dishonored suggestions, tho! Please message me if you want to see any of these characters in any situation you might want to see them in. 

[batmanfucker69-archive]

Oh no...it’s time to talk about the companions. :(

Before I go into them individually I wanna say that gameplay wise they’re all pretty worthless. None of them can aim well and their AI is poor. The melee characters are ok in a fight but I’ve never had most of them do much when I’m fighting. This probably isn’t too controversial I mean most of the time bethesda games have bad AI it just stands out a lot in this game to me. 

Also the romance part felt tacked on super late like. it barely effects anything you barely get any new dialogue from romancing them. It’s really obvious they wanted to cash in on bioware’s popular romance function from mass effect and dragon age while putting in the least amount of effort. Also there’s the fact that they’re all the schrodinger’s bisexual trope, save for maybe a fetishizing line from Cait.

I’ll go in alphabet order of the characters names, and also cover their companion quest if they have one. 

Cait- She’s probably one of my favorites but like...she’s wasted potential. I still don’t understand why there’s like. British/Russian/Irish characters in these games because how did they get over here but anyway. Cait is located at an arena raiders go to bet on fighters. She’s one of the fighters you find when you come in but the raiders immediately attack you which is super lazy. There could have been a quest to get her but you kill everyone but her and her manager.

She’s basically forced to be your companion because her manager immediately sells you her contract. You can’t say no without being a rude asshole so I take her everytime but I sometimes just leave her in a settlement. She’s rude, and one of the characters who seems to enjoy you being rude to other people. But...then she says she enjoys how nice you are to her and everyone else but you’ve only gotten approval from her for being rude to other people or stealing. It’s incredibly confusing whether she sees you as someone like her or someone she wants to be like.

On the other hand I think her backstory is strong and I can see what Bethesda was going for with her. She’s conflilcted because she wants to be a good person, but doesn’t see how to in a world as cruel as she lives in. Which is a really good idea for a fallout character and if handled better she’d probably be one of my favorite characters in fallout as a whole.

Then there’s her companion quest which they royally fucked up on.Bethesda’s writers are not good enough to cover a sensitive issue like drug addiction. And making a magical machine that can just cure your addiction in like 5 seconds is super insulting.

Codsworth- I don’t care about Codsworth at all. They kind of touch on his old connection to your family but that goes no where and I...don’t care about my family. He never even finds out what happens to Shaun I don’t think. He’s just kinda there. He also doesn’t have a personal quest. 

Curie- Curie is controversial and for good reason. At first I thought she was a cute little robot who was programmed with AI and I thought it was neat that an AI other than a synth would be a romance option. I was so so wrong. They upload her consciousness into a failed memory transferred synth. 

They basically took someone who was in a vegetative state, erased their existance completely, and replaced their mind with Curie’s. Which is super fucked up. Of course they upload her into a sexy lady which is super objectifying...somehow more than when she was a robot. 

Wanting to feel more human could have been a really interesting development for an AI character but they just made it super fucked up while not confronting the fact that it’s super fucked up and there’s no other option in this quest it has to happen. Curie deserved better.

Danse- Another character that had a lot of potential. At first I thought he was a jackass from the Brotherhood, which he is, at first. When I first played the game I avoided him but I found his quest online and had to continue the brotherhood questline just to find out what happened to him.

He finds out he’s a synth, the things that the brotherhood are trying to destroy, and his entire life basically falls apart. He runs away at first but then he realizes someone will find him and just stays in this base waiting for someone to kill him. When you find him it’s a genuinely emotional scene and you actually get a choice on whether to kill him or not. 

However after the quest this good writing ends because other than his talks with you he continues to act like he’s a paladin in the Brotherhood. & if you do his quest but then go on to another faction’s side and kill destroy the brotherhood he ceases to be your companion and will glitch out and the game registers him as a regular settler but he doesn’t have the lines. To my knowledge this has never been patched and I really hope it isn’t intentional.

Deacon- Another companion with no personal quest, so I’ll go more into his backstory. His wife died which is new and original of course. But anyway he works for the railroad to make up for being in a gang that hatedsynths (and also killed his wife who was apparently a synth). He actually feels guilty for his past and joined the railroad as a means of redemption.

All this is a good basis for a character but it doesn’t really go anywhere. He’s a liar too but again this goes no where. He tells the player character he trusts them after a time but we never figure out his real name so who knows if he does or not because he’s prone to lying. He has some interesting dialogue around the Commonwealth but other than that there’s not much to him.

Dogmeat- This character is the most vile, the worst, morally corrupt character in the game. No jk. I do gotta say it’s confusing that there’s pure bred dogs in the post apocalypse. Whos breeding german shepards around here?

Hancock- I know everyone loves him but. He’s so poorly written. If he cares about his people so much why are they living on the streets while he gets a whole building to himself? Bethesda really didn’t know how to make him what they wanted him to be. Sure there’s little law in Goodneighbor, but he lets gangs take over the back allies and it isn’t even mentioned in game. He’s just confusing as a character, his backstory is a little interesting, but I think a lot more could be done with it. 

I don’t care about his asshole brother and neither does he apparently, since he never does anything about Diamond City like I thought he would and the bad blood between them is mentioned about twice the whole game. His whole ghoulification is also ignorable to him, and isn’t used for much.

Robert MacCready- He has a dead wife and a dying son so he gets bonus Todd points. The only reason he’s in the Commonwealth is to find a cure for his son. You do help him find this, so at least they wrapped up this plot point. The reason he doesn’t leave the Commonwealth right away is because you become good friends and I honestly think that’s sweet. Unfortunately he’s still a dick. Not as big of an ass as in 3 but I still don’t really like him. And why does he yell “Tunnel Snakes Rule!”? sometimes when he goes into combat? It doesn’t seem like the Tunnel Snakes really became a thing after fallout 3 and it’s just super forced. 

He used to run with the Gunners, who are just a generic raider group but with better armor pretty much. He doesn’t give us much insight into them and we just kill off some of them who were looking for him because it’ll get them off his ass? apparently. This quest also bleeds into him finding a cure for his son’s mysterious illness, but the two events are pretty much unrelated.

I feel like his character could have been really good since he knew the brotherhood from back home but he rarely talks about them and really he’s disappointing more than anything.

Nick Valentine- Hoo boy do I have unpopular opinions here. Nick is a waste of a character with a horrible character quest that really goes no where. We never find out why the institute abandoned him but I guess that’s in a DLC I never bought and just shows how lazy bethesda’s writing is. A quest involving the institute would be a million times better than the shitty quest we did get. His dialogue is mostly one-liners but he does seem to genuinely care about the main character, but he has no reason to which I guess could be good or bad. I do love his aesthetic, though. It’s 50s noire, which is what the theme of the game should be. 

Anyway, personal quest. You go on fetch quests to different police stations around the CommonWealth and kill whatever the heck’s infesting the place. It’s pretty boring other than learning about what happened to prewar gangsters. After that we find out these tapes are for, it turns out that there’s prewar gangster still alive and in a twist Nick doesn’t have a dead wife but a dead fiance to mix things up.

This revenge plot for Nick could have been great but they did absolutely everything wrong. So this gangster turned himself into a ghoul on purpose. Before the Great War. How did he know that a load of radiation would make him immortal? it’s never explained! And he locked himself in a bunker for over 200 years and he never left. You would think this would affect him somehow but he acts completely normal and acts only slightly annoyed two armed people broke into his bunker. And then you don’t even get a choice in the matter Nick just fuckin kills him and you leave the tunnel conveniently right where his fiance died. 

His whole companion quest is some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen in my life and I absolutely hate it and it makes me want to avoid Nick all together.

Piper Wright- She’s kinda boring. I like the set up they gave her but all her conflicts are never resolved at all. She doesn’t have a companion quest but she desperately needs one. I guess she sorta has one where she just asks about your character’s whole backstory and I think it’s funny you can just make shit up but she writes an article about it anyway. Her backstory is actually fantastic and gives really good reasons for her actions and her job. She has strong feelings that people deserve to know the truth and this gets her in trouble a lot. But as I said, none of it goes anywhere since she doesn’t have a companion quest and basically has no personality other than she gets in trouble.

I guess they ran out of time with her because I really think something was planned for her but got scrapped because of time.

Preston Garvey- I think he’s one of the best written ones. He has a strong sense of justice and is one of the few people who genuinely just want to do what’s right. I don’t know if it’s his voice actor but I like talking to him a lot. Bethesda really needed to add more minutemen characters because him spewing out a ton of side quests before you can actually talk to him is annoying. I wish we got a backstory for him other than being a minutemen and telling us their history. His romance is a lot better written than everyone else’s I think he does actually enjoy my character’s company.

Also I’m realy confused as to why he isn’t the general and your character is. I mean if they just didn’t call you general and he was nothing would change at all. Actually it would make more sense because he’s the one giving you orders.

Strong- uuuuuh don’t care super mutants have no personality in bethesda games skip

X6-88- I have to admit I rarely side with the institute so I haven’t seen X6 as much as the other companions. He’s very robotic, and he’s a courser but he’s just as bad in a fight as the rest of them. I don’t think he has a companion quest either. I can’t say much about him because Bethesda didn’t really do anything with him.

Anyway...they’re better than the fallout 3 companions but...that’s really not saying much because none of them had personalities.