#location: vault 111.

[isaiahhaywood]

Isaiah wasn't able to sleep, wasn't able to dream, but he liked to imagine that, if he could, this is what it would feel like. Long stretches of nothingness, flashes of memory, of light, then back to a painless nothing. He was programmed to awaken whenever the cryogenic pods were activated, always ready to accompany and assist his family. But Shaun had been the only one to awaken, cruelly ripped from his father's arms, and Isaiah had been forced to watch, entirely helpless, as a soldier took the baby away. The android had never experienced emotion like it. It had faded with time. Grimly, Isaiah had been given plenty of that, another few decades passing by as he went about his duties as best he could. When he stared at Nora and Nate's sleeping forms for too long, those strange feelings would return, and Isaiah would focus on them for a little longer each time, giving into the strong curiosity even though it hurt to do so. But with that exploration came more human-aligned emotions — boredom, fear, loneliness. Isaiah began to read, began to watch, earning himself knowledge beyond what any update could have provided. Learning satiated most of those feelings, and there were even moments Isaiah felt he wasn't completely alone down there, always rushing back to his family's chambers whenever he heard a strange noise. But it had never been them. He wondered if androids could experience insanity, or paranoia. He almost remained at his station, in a dreamless state, when he heard the pod activate. After all this time, it couldn't be them. But then he heard gasping. Isaiah was by their sides in an instant, looking incredulously between them, unable to register they were really awake. Partly programming, partly his own earned humanity, Isaiah felt joy, relief, grinning at them. "Ma'am! Sir, it's... it's so good to see you. You're awake."

[atonalginger]

WIP Wednesday

the lovely and talented @fangbangerghoul reminded me it was WIP Wednesday and I have something to share! Thank you for the reminder and tag!

I am going to extend the tag/invitation to any of y'all who see this and think, "hey I got something to share!" No pressure, just a general invitation.

My excerpt is a rough snippet from the Fallout 4 universe with Dawn, my current sole survivor. I'm still working on the Dellarov fic too but the chapter I wrote was an extended, hella downer and I'm letting it sit before I continue on...So for now I'm writing action and danger in the Commonwealth!

“Should we keep looking?” the raspy voiced raider asked near the road.

Dawn laid on her left side, curled in the fetal position with another empty stimpak clutched tightly in her hand. Her armor and utility suit, or what was left of it after the initial flames went out, was soaked in blood. The sticky residue of the napalm spewed from the incinerator still smoldered on her suit and skin. Her mouth tasted of blood, bile, and the lingering tinge of stimpak and med-x. She prayed the bush she’d crashed behind was enough and the raiders were too hopped up on psycho to notice the blood trail that would lead them straight to her.

“No, bitch is probably dead by now.” The one in the hellfire power armor said, the creaking of the frame telling her they didn’t know how to maintain their rare treasure.

“What about the loot?” the raspy one asked, “looked like they had a bag weighed down with shit.”

“Shit is what it’ll be alright, after we torched them,” the sound of metal hitting flesh popped in the distance, “get back to your fucking post.”

“All right, all right,” the raspy one whined, “don’t have to be so fucking rough.”

���Keep talking and I’ll send you to meet that toasted bitch.” Heavy foot steps were moving away from her location.

Dawn tried to pull herself closer to the old listening post. It would be safer to wait inside the bunker than risk mongrels, mole rats, or ghouls finding her before the Minutemen. Her body was in full revolt, her vision blurring, ears ringing, and limbs barely cooperating. She gave up, pawing at her radio on her left shoulder and squeezing the button down with all her remaining strength, “Preston? This is General Faulkner.”

“General?” Emmett Mallory answered near immediately, “you sound rough.”

“I am,” she choked out and coughed, “chems are the only thing keeping me alert. I need…you need to…”

Emmett was yelling to Preston off in the distance from the ham radio set up at the farm house in the Hills. She heard him say it was time to go. Preston had already prepped a team, it would seem, waiting for her eventual call. Soon Emmett was back with her on the line, “can you flip on the tracker on the radio? We can locate you quickly that way.”

They’d delved back into vault 111 and pulled a dozen unused pipboys from storage crates near the back, assigning them to those Preston and Dawn deemed responsible enough to lead. Preston didn’t like wearing his but admitted it made work easier.

“I…think…” Dawn struggled to find the tiny gray switch, “Tell Preston…tell him he was right. Tell him I’m sorry for…”

She knocked the switch on, the force knocking the radio out of her hand. Her vision swirled, the static chaos in her ears drowning out Emmett’s voice. Lieutenant Harkins always told me my arrogance would be what did me in, she thought as chills started to set in, and her vision went dark, should have just died in the vault.

[bokatan]

I have no idea if I ever actually specified which Sanctuary house Reed lived in(referenced in this drabble and probably somewhere else that I can’t remember), so:

It’s the ruined blue one at the end of the cul-de-sac, closest to the river

And some miscellaneous headcanons & ramblings under the cut

Reed has a really weird relationship with Sanctuary. He was in Boston for all of a month before the bombs hit, still in the process of unpacking, & had no idea when Mercy would be heading back to the east coast to actually see where they’d be living. It’s not really home in any meaningful sense, but at the same time he has this weird disconnected homesick feeling over it because it was supposed to be. He hadn’t had a legitimately permanent home in almost a decade, this would’ve been the first one he’s had since leaving home to join the army, and (to him) it feels like it’s completely destroyed in a matter of minutes. He eventually meets Preston&Co and helps them get to Sanctuary, but even after they’ve started to rebuild he just can’t settle there. Something about trying to live in the ruins of what would’ve been his new life just makes him incredibly uneasy.

His feelings about vault 111 are similar; he goes back to the vault exactly once, months after the fact, after dealing with Kellogg, to make sure he didn’t actually miss anything. He still has no idea who Shaun is at this point and he’s not entirely aware of how involved the Institute is. He’s on edge the entire time he’s in the vault and rushes through it as much as he’s able to. I don’t think I’ve posted anything with him actually mentioning the vault yet, but he primarily refers to it as a crypt.

It eventually gets to a point where he just avoids that entire northwestern region of the map. He likes Preston well enough but can’t stand how uncomfortable both locations make him feel- the vault up on the hill and within sight at pretty much any given time, and the new homes and lives being created out of the empty shells and rubble of what should’ve been his new life.

[ghoulenjoyer]

Reuben de Sterkehand - Fallout 4

After stumbling out of Vault 111 Reuben spent the first year being passed around between organisations and individuals who saw him as nothing more than an asset for carrying out their mission, and because of this he does not fully align himself with any faction other than the Minutemen. He begrudgingly accepted the position as General, but after initially investing a decent amount of time into restructuring the militia he became more of an “absent leader”. He regularly checks in with Radio Freedom for situations that may require his attention.

The majority of the time he makes decisions based on the outcome benefiting him. However, Reuben despises those who target the innocent and he has a soft spot for ostracised groups (ghouls, synths, etc) and so it isn’t uncommon for him to help those in need where the only reward is satisfaction. Reuben is very hard to tie down, or even locate. For this reason he tends to accept (or decline) mercenary work and other jobs on the spot.

[commonwealthoccurences]

Back To Eden - Ch 1

Summary: Sole is a journalist and independent investigator who worked with the famous Detective Nick Valentine before the bombs dropped. They stumble out of Vault 111 with hazy memories of a case gone awry, a sense of desperate yearning, and the bitter experience of already having had to fight for their life to survive against the odds. What's a little nuclear wasteland to a (newly) seasoned investigator?

See masterlist for warnings

Fic-long tags: Hurt comfort, angst, pining, flashback scenes, noir detective show meets post-apocalyptic chaos, Preston Garvey is a sweetheart, Sole is doing their best and living out of pure spite, slow burn (Nick/Sole), etc etc.

Sole was nervous, which was impossible, because Sole didn’t get nervous. There was something about their assignment that had them back in their college freshmen mindset, that shaky giddiness that sent them bouncing on the balls of their feet. They didn’t need to see the side-eye the cashier was giving them to know what she was thinking– ‘Do you even need coffee?’

Yes, Sole needed the coffee. Absolutely. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world to prepare Sole for interacting with one of Chicago’s finest– and according to his reputation, Chicago’s sternest.

Sole wasn’t exactly one to advocate for getting buddy-buddy with any member of the police department, but this was an exception. They were smart enough to acknowledge that Detective Valentine was skilled, regardless of his affiliations, and there was just something so rich about how their partnership was arranged. He needed their help.

The first time Sole had caught wind of the Boston PD setting up this little arrangement, they had laughed. And laughed. And apologized to the poor receptionist who had to make the call, and then laughed some more. After they’d remembered themself they got some more details on the situation. Apparently, Valentine had been chasing a serial killer for quite some time– a case that Sole had become intimately familiar with due to their own occupations– and the BPD had grown frustrated with his lack of progress within the time they had given him. Tensions were high from the activity of Eddie Winter, and Sole assumed they were just desperate for any sort of progress and taking it out on Valentine.

Regardless, Sole wasn’t a detective, or any sort of law enforcement at all. They were an independent investigator– they resented the term PI, too heavily affiliated with sleazy scam artists– and a crime journalist. The way they saw it, there was too much on the line for the public’s safety to not be transparent with them. Of course, they weren’t stupid enough to endanger their progress on a case by giving too many details away, but once everything had been wrapped up, they were more than willing to be far more transparent than the BPD appreciated.

This made Sole’s relationship with the BPD… tricky. But whether or not they appreciated Sole’s journalistic tendencies, they couldn’t deny that they were helpful when they wanted to be. Sole, neither, could deny that it would be incredibly valuable to shadow Detective Valentine; he had made quite the name for himself, and Sole was relatively new to the independent investigative scene. Sure, they had a knack for it due to their journalism, but they were still learning the ropes.

Finally, their order number was called out and they were forced to stop shifting where they stood in the corner of the coffee shop. The cashier seemed relieved to get rid of their nervous energy as they gathered the two disposable cups and rushed their way out the door; she was still polite enough to call a generic goodbye after them. The door had slammed shut by the time she got half of her sentence out.

Detective Valentine had agreed to meet Sole downtown, a couple blocks away from the first interview they had on their list. Correction: Valentine’s secretary had agreed to arrange this meeting by putting the time and location in his calendar. They themself hadn’t actually spoken to Valentine before, which was making them all the more anxious. Perhaps it showed in the way their knee was practically vibrating up and down as they sat on one of the decorative rock walls while they waited.

The interview list was Sole’s own doing. They had demanded the pair start from the beginning again. There was too much that could be lost in the summaries of other people’s experiences on a case. Sole wanted to start completely fresh. Besides, that was an opportunity to really get a feel for the way Valentine worked before things got even more stressful. Sure, they weren’t about to worship the ground he walked on, but they really did want the case to work out. There was much to learn. And the pay was pretty decent, too.

Valentine had been exactly on time, that much Sole remembered, though the scene was beginning to blur. The trees on the edges of their vision were starting to grow hazy, choppy, like some of the pieces had gone missing. Something uneasy grew in Sole, sending prickles up their spine. The air had a sudden, unexplainable chill to it; sure it was the start of autumn, but the day had been tingeing on uncomfortably warm before. They tried to brush it off as Valentine approached.

They recognized him from their research and articles they’d read over the years. It was hard not to keep up with his career; he’d broken handfuls of BPD records for his case-solving, and other statistics Sole hadn’t bothered to memorize. Besides, he had distinct features that were hard to forget.

His cheekbones were angular– sharp, almost gaunt looking. He had a striking, hooked nose, hooded eyes, and lips that were thin, though Sole couldn’t tell if that was genetics or the fact that they seemed to be permanently pressed together in an expression of mild displeasure. Sole pretended not to notice him right away; like approaching a stand-offish dog, they’d allow him to assess them first, then approach and exchange pleasantries. 

It only took about a minute, one within which Sole grew increasingly colder. They clung to the cup pressed between their palms, seeking any sort of warmth, but it somehow seemed so far away. Finally, Valentine broke their concentration on their discomfort. “You’re the PI, I gather?” His voice was low and rough; they already knew he had a nasty cigarette habit.

Sole’s attention snapped upward once again and they couldn’t help the curl to their lip. “Independent investigator. And crime journalist–”

“I’ve done my research.”

“Right.”

Sole should’ve known better; pleasantries were a waste of police time. Regardless, they stood and offered up the other cup of coffee. “Dark roast. No cream, two sugars.”

Valentine looked wary, like he was about to call up his home security and ask them to double whatever precautions they were taking. “You’re not the only one who’s done their research.”

“I don’t discuss my coffee habits with the press.”

“Oh, I have my sources, Detective Valentine.”

They had asked his secretary approximately half an hour beforehand when they passed the coffee shop and had a lightbulb moment. Valentine stared at them for a moment, but his expression remained guarded. “Right. Well, I suppose we should head to the first witness’s house, then?”

“Lead the way.”

Without another comment, Valentine started taking large strides past them. Sole moved to follow, but suddenly realized their legs were frozen stiff. In fact, they couldn’t move at all. As Valentine continued walking, he grew fuzzier and the background faded out of focus with him. And then the scene was no more.

Reawakening was like swallowing a snowstorm, a shock to the system that stole the air out of Sole’s lungs as fast as they inhaled. That biting cold clung to every slow movement they made; there was frost coating their fingertips and gluing their eyelashes together. Blindly, eyes sealed shut, they banged their fists against the glass of their frozen prison.

Admittedly, it was a pathetic effort. Being frozen for however long had done a number on them. Distantly, they could hear a foggy robotic voice say something about the cryogenic systems. Eventually, their fist met air and the momentum from their swing sent them tumbling out of the tube they had been tricked into. They fell for forever and for only a few seconds, and then they met the floor with an equally loud and wet sounding smack.

Somehow, the impact of their fall didn’t come close to breaking through the pain of defrosting. They barely registered the impact outside of coming to a jarring stop. Fighting against their cryo-pod had already exhausted them. They’d stumbled out the other side of the end of the world and it was time for a breather.

Sole groaned as they shifted on the hard floor. Whenever the Vaults had been constructed, they certainly hadn’t accounted for the potential to end up on the floor in the cryo-lab. Instinctually, they opened their eyes, and immediately regretted it. The icicles that had clung to their lashes had melted, yes, but the residual water was still freezing cold and had now bled into their eyes.

Considering this was a once-in-a-lifetime misery (at least one could hope), Sole allowed themself to make miserable little noises. Maybe one of the staff would hear them lamenting their frozen eyeballs and frozen everything and come by with a blanket or an industrial hair dryer or anything that would make the sting of thawing hurt a little less. 

No such luck.

Eventually, Sole began to shift and their muscles screamed in protest. Go figure. Being frozen in one position for an indiscernible amount of time had made them more than a little bit sore. Their arms shook from the effort as they rolled over onto their side and pressed their palms to the floor, but their huffing breath seemed to be bringing some warmth back to their lungs.

The first push that was supposed to get them to their feet only resulted in what had to be more than a few bruises. Sole’s legs hadn’t quite gotten the memo that they were done resting and it was time to move and their knees gave out. They nearly slammed their head against the empty cryo-pod across from their own, and for a moment, they pictured the irony. Thousands of years in the future, archaeologists discovering the remains of an ancient person who had survived cryo-freeze through nuclear war and then slipped and fell and died moments later.

After a series of movements to wedge, pull, and levy themself, Sole finally got to their feet and looked around. Fog still trailed out of their ajar cryo-pod, but the one they were leaning against appeared long-defrosted. The rest remained undisturbed, though considering the various warning messages the overhead speaker was playing, it seemed they were better off left that way. Sole was standing in a graveyard.

Their movements through the rest of the Vault could’ve inspired several new franchises of zombie films if someone had been around to witness them. There was just one problem with that; there was no one around. Sure, their memory from before the freeze was still iced-over at best, but they remembered the Vault staff. They remembered the doctor that rushed them into the pod, and the carefully practiced reassuring smiles from various security. They weren’t supposed to be alone.

The Vault was in disarray. Papers scattered, chairs knocked over, tools left abandoned next to rusted pipes. There was a notable layer of dust over everything that had Sole sneezing. It was such an odd thing, to sneeze into your hand and feel freezing cold air come out. Very little seemed to make sense, though, as Sole took their stumbling steps, braced against the Vault walls. Considering it seemed everything had gone wrong somewhere down the line after the Vault members were frozen, Sole had to wonder what else Vault Tec hadn’t accounted for. Would they regain feeling in their limbs? Would they be able to walk properly again? 

There was a distinct sort of apathy Sole felt as they reached the front desk and saw a skeleton sprawled out beside it. One of the staff, inevitably. It wasn’t as if Sole had been some sort of dead body connoisseur before the freeze, but something about it felt so unreal to them. It felt as if the Vault staff had planned some sort of shitty prank for them once they had woken up. At any moment, the staff would yell “Surprise!” with all of the audacity of strangers who had decided to torment someone who’d spent the last however-long bonding with ice cubes.

No such luck.

Numbly, in more ways than one, Sole fumbled with the gun that had been stashed underneath the exit-terminal desk. Their hands shook so hard they were afraid they were going to shoot themself in the foot (add that to the list of stupid ways to die after being cryogenically frozen), but the gun safely made it into the belt of their suit. Eventually, their hands cooperated for long enough for them to hit the right keys, and the vault door swung upwards with a disagreeable screech.

More hallways. The numbness was intensifying a little and mixing with an excruciating pain that was starting in the tips of Sole’s fingers and toes. Their choppy stumble had turned into a blackout-drunk sway as they pushed themself to continue down the halls and to the mouth of the Vault. Exit needs a Pip-Boy. Is this how I die? Skeleton. Staff. Staff had Pip-Boy. Plug. Walkway. Is this how I die? Their vision was cutting in and out as they threw themself into the elevator and slumped against one of the walls.

The shaky rise of the elevator felt like the world’s worst rocking bassinet. The machinery was protesting every movement, and Sole felt inclined to agree. But suddenly, the rise stopped, and the mouth opened, and Sole was above ground once again.

Oh, God, it was warm. It was excruciating. The light was too bright and Sole couldn’t open their eyes, but it was warm. It was burning. They were alive. They were so cold. They were dying. 

No such luck.

The sun was so bright it blotted out most of the landscape in front of them, and for that Sole was grateful. The soil in front of them was crumbly and dry, like the nutrients and moisture and hope had been sucked out of it and spat back out. The fence that had once prevented Vault 111 workers from tumbling down the sheer hill into the nearby neighborhood was torn and covered in sickly brambles.

Their neighborhood. Sole’s vantage point from the cliff that Vault 111 had been built into provided the perfect view of the crumbling place Sole once called home. Buildings that were once bright blue were dulled and peeling like a rotted fruit. The roofs were mostly caved in, the cars in the driveways mere shells of what they had been.

Sole’s breath was coming in shaking gasps that rattled in their chest and burned every part of them on their way. Their lips were trembling as they moved to press their hands against the metal beneath them and get to their feet once again. All they wanted was to go home, and it was within grasp. 

The path down was muddled by various tumbled chunks of rock and fallen branches and those same brambles they had seen earlier that seemed to be infecting every inch of the ground they could take root in. Maybe nothing else survived here, Sole supposed. How long had it been? Was there anyone else, were they the only one left? They figured it impossible. They hoped it was impossible.

Maybe they were swaying with every stride, or maybe the Earth was just turning far faster than they were used to. They supposed that was within the realm of reason, considering what they were seeing now. Maybe the Earth was trying to shake them free, the lone survivor of catastrophe that had blemished the face of the planet. They had seen the bomb go off, just before the platform descended into the cold crevice of Sanctuary Hill. Maybe there was still a crater, depending on how long after the bomb dropped it had been. It felt like there was a crater in their stomach, if that counted for anything.

Sole’s vision was hazy, filled with static that looked like snow or ash or the crumbling burning of the world they had known. Maybe it looked like flecks of blue paint. They braced a shoulder against one of the ruined houses, absentmindedly trying to shake one of their feet loose from a bramble that had gotten hold of them. They were almost home; they could crawl into their bed and fall asleep and everything would be alright again. They would wake up and the world wouldn’t be over. They’d been waiting on a guest when they had to evacuate, after all. The world had to be alright, so their guest could arrive.

The streets could hardly be considered streets anymore. It seemed they had crumbled under the unbearable heat of the sun overhead; Sole was roasting alive as they stumbled past their neighbor’s house. They were almost home. It would be okay. They’d get cool again, not too cool and not too warm, and they’d take a nap and the world would right itself and stop spinning so quickly. 

Sole’s hands shook so hard it looked like they were being rattled by a ghost. For a good few minutes, they fumbled with the rusted doorknob of their crumbling home, but eventually pushed the door open and stepped inside.

They nearly tripped on a piece of rubble; a section of roof that had fallen inward, it appeared. The blur of their vision cast a haunted filter on their surroundings. Their kitchen table had split itself in half during their absence. Sole couldn’t imagine the comments their guest would make when they saw that– they’d take a nap and then get a new table. 

Boots. There were boots on their floor, ones that distinctly didn’t belong to them. They looked old, like late 1700s old and even through the numbness of their face they could feel their forehead wrinkle in confusion. Slowly, their eyes trailed upward, and suddenly there was a very blurry man attached to those boots. He wasn’t the only one there. Behind him, there was a small crowd of people, and they all seemed to be staring at Sole. They stared back. “What are you doing in my house?”

And the world went black once again.

[lifesliced]

STEPHEN “GEVANNI” LOUD  — THE SOLE SURVIVOR // * A MAN OUT OF TIME

NAME: stephen loud

ALIAS: gevanni

AGE: 27, almost 28 when frozen in vault 11

BORN: toronto, canada - immigrated when he was going into his freshman year of high school, had dual citizenship

LOCATION PRE-WAR: boston, massachusetts, usa - living in the neighborhood that would be become known as the settlement called “sanctuary.”

CAREER: “ [ ... ] is a former soldier and decorated war hero who served in the 2nd battalion, 108th infantry regiment of the united states army during the sino-american war.” was seen favorably in his ranks, as well as amongst his peers and superiors, and was honorably discharged [ reasons unknown ] .

VAULT: the only surviving member of vault 111

ON NORA: gevanni is actively taking the place of “nate” from the baseline male sole survivor, which leaves the female player character option “nora” as the wife to nate. this is so that players can choose between them, leaving the other to fill the role of spouse at the beginning of the game to establish the sosu’s life pre-war, what they lose, who they care about, and what they were doing before the war (living in a suburb of boston). canonically speaking, nate is a soldier that is recently returned to civilian life, while nora is a recent mother that is looking to “shake the dust off” her law degree, inferring she is a lawyer of some kind. i will be keeping gevanni as a soldier, leaving the default identity of his wife to be “nora,” and their son to be “shaun.” 

after emerging from the vault and stabilizing himself, gevanni went back for nora to give her body a proper burial. she is buried away from vault 111, but near sanctuary in a secluded, woodsy area. something about her body being eternally frozen seemed wrong to him, allowing her to properly be laid to rest. 

he keeps nora’s wedding ring on him, and still wears his ring throughout the series, even if he becomes romantically involved with someone else. this can be a point of contention. 

he visits her grave sometimes when he is at the red rocket truck stop near their old home. while the red rocket is close to sanctuary, it is far enough away (with fond enough memories) to be occupied as a settlement, as well as being near concord, a city that gevanni hopes will become reoccupied via extension of the red rocket. 

by extension, about codsworth ... he and gevanni still get along post-war, gevanni finding codsworth first before anyone else. while codsworth is a companion, i don’t consider him one here. he primarily takes care of the first settlement that gevanni establishes at the red rocket, helping him seal up sanctuary after moving out preston, sturges, and the others. eventually, codsworth is allowed to choose where he wants to live, be it graygarden with the other robots, the castle with the minutemen, choose another settlement, or leave entirely. his relationship with gevanni remains amicable, as many of gevanni’s decisions fall into codsworth approval.

HEY GEVANNI, YOU’RE S.P.E.C.I.A.L. !!

* fallout 4 starts with 28 base distributive points. immediately after leaving the vault, you gain an additional point via a ‘you’re special’ book that is beneath shaun’s crib in sanctuary. total starting points = 29 to distribute at the beginning of “fallout 4.”

these base stats serve to reflect as closely as possible gevanni’s main canon while still remaining within the constraints of fallout 4. i based these SPECIAL stats off of gevanni’s canonical death note stats, compromising and equaling out my totals based on 

these base stats will also determine what branches of perks he pursues, and he does eventually boost these core 7 stats throughout time, ending pretty “stacked” by the time he “deals with” the institute. most threads take place during early-to-mid fallout 4, meaning his stats more closely align to what i have below.

(S)TRENGTH - 3

(P)ERCEPTION - 4

(E)NDURANCE - 5

(C)HARISMA - 6

(I)NTELLIGENCE - 7

(A)GILITY - 3

(L)UCK - 1

gevanni associated his YOU’RE SPECIAL point allocation to intelligence.

* i always start my sole survivor’s at 1 for luck as a reflection of their situation at the beginning of the game, but that skill is prone to change ... for good or bad.

ON PERKS: i decided to go starting, middle, and end for perks; from what he would start with to what he would end the game with. beginning perks, aside from locksmith, are based in his core SPECIAL stats at the start of fo4. if he has the core stat for it, he could potentially have that perk unlocked at the beginning. as the verse progresses, the starting perks would be built on as he gains new perks throughout. by the end, gevanni will have a lot of the perks unlocked, but that does not mean he filled out the entire tree. some i have left out due to not being in the realm of his character. this also includes beginning perks. i did not give gevanni every perk that was technically unlockable to him at the beginning, and some that should have been at the beginning are instead gained in the middle, as i feel they are perks that are related more to the environment, so realistically would make sense to adapt into over having at the beginning (such as aquaboy, cap collector, or lifegiver, for example, both perks he could have had unlocked at the start, but instead show better in the middle, as they are wasteland associated perks, not pre-war perks). 

STARTING PERKS: armorer, iron fist, pickpocket, rifleman, awareness, locksmith (master locks)*, toughness, lady killer, lone wanderer, attack dog, vans, medic, gun nut, hacker (expert), gunslinger, commando, sneak, fortune finder.

* this is one of the few starting perks i have already “maxed” out for gevanni based on his canon. all other perks will follow the traditional “leveling” systems as gevanni gains skills throughout. to have the locksmith perk, you have to already have a perception of 4 to go further than basic locks. 

GAINED PERKS (MID): strong back, heavy gunner, blacksmith, demolition expert, night person, aqua boy, lifegiver, cap collector, local leader, hacker (master), scrapper, mister sandman, action boy, moving target, mysterious stranger.

GAINED PERKS (END): steady aim, sniper, penetrator, concentrated fire, rad resistant, intimidation, ninja, quick hands, gun fu, scounger, bloody mess, better criticals, critical banker.

CARRYING CAPACITY: 230lbs (base of 200, 30lbs additional due to strength stat)

WEAPONS: primarily relies on a 10mm pistol for close range and a .50 sniper rifle for long range, as well as the use of tactical assault rifles, though is known to swap out guns as needed (mostly based on ammo) without issue. you can expect that he uses pipe pistols, submachine guns, and other weapons found in the wasteland.

with limited supplies, the luxury of a preferred weapon is not the same as pre-war. he is skilled in most combat weapons, including knives, as well as in hand-to-hand combat. throughout his time in the commonwealth, he has probably touched one of at least every gun or weapon out there. he also carries a combat knife and a switchblade. 

on average, he typically carries a rotation of two close range weapons, one long range, and two combat weapons that are non-ammo reliant (such as the ripper or a knife). 

as guns breakdown, become worn out, or damaged beyond repair, gevanni will scrap them for parts to upgrade new weapons. while he has his preferences, he has forced himself to become more skilled with weapons he did not favor pre-war, but had experience with. 

TO BE NOTED: i typically play this verse in the mid-beginning around the middle of the game to give a lot of leniency for the plot to progress, as well as to allow gevanni that natural growth versus being met as a fully op bethesda mc, if that makes sense. i would say right around after concord but before getting into kellogg’s memories. this still allows for a lot of the content in fallout 4 to be accessible. i will play throughout this entire timeline, however, and will not only be playing mid-game content, but that’s where i’ll focus. given that this is meant to follow the bulk of fallout 4′s core story and lore, it does not mean that the verse has to entirely follow the game play-by-play. this verse has a lot of leniency, deriving instead from the game for a lot of its mechanics, restrictions, inspirations, and motives, but also allowing for a more open experience versus something more neat and streamlined. 

ACTIVE COMPANIONS: dogmeat, currently a lone wanderer. occasionally travels with preston when needed, or nick when required (eventually choosing to journey with nick and dogmeat in tandem). has been known to travel with deacon for railroad business. he also traveled with danse for a short period of time.

currently has met - the mayor hancock of goodneighbor, piper of diamond city, the detective nick valentine, and preston garvey of the minutemen (now located in sanctuary*). 

nick valentine being so interwoven with finding kellogg is a big reason why gevanni’s favoritism towards nick is so apparent.

he is on good terms with piper, finding her feisty, extroverted, and opinionated. their relationship is generally positive. 

while jarring at first, gevanni adjusts to the ghouls of the commonwealth, much the same as he does synths. in fact, it is the acceptance of ghouls that allows gevanni to make the leap towards independent synth recognition of the third gen series. because of this, we can assume gevanni’s relationship with hancock is also rather positive, encouraging him to go more straightedge, but not entirely dissuading hancock to be himself. after all, hancock actively survived for years without gevanni’s interference. as gevanni is not a chem user, he does not push hancock to experiment, at least not with him.

he is always meeting the active companions of the commonwealth throughout this verse, so depending on thread, sometimes he might know / know of a companion, sometimes he might not (yet).

gevanni does do most of the required companion missions throughout his time in the commonwealth, all while pursuing his primary goal to find his son. you can expect that he got curie her body, for instance. i believe there could be potential romance with curie, but that is neither here nor there. 

gevanni does not pursue much with companions like cate, allowing her to go off on her own after enabling her companion status.

he is obviously on good terms with deacon, seeing as they both work for the railroad. other companions like maccready, ada, etc are all generally left to their own devices after being “helped” by the sole survivor. gevanni does not keep close enough tabs to force them to do much of anything.

in most instances, at least for big picture stuff, he does generally have their support if needed, particularly in battle. 

he is closest to dogmeat, nick, codsworth, deacon, preston, curie, and piper. 

he does not side with porter gage in nuka world, seeing as gevanni actively liberates nuka world, hoping to get it back to its former glory as a settlement for the citizens of the commonwealth. 

SANCTUARY: gevanni has no desire to return to sanctuary, walling off his house entirely, basically encapsulating it further to be “sealed in time.” from there, he suggests the minutemen move fully to the castle, eventually walling off sanctuary forever. while it is an inhabitable place, gevanni seeks to have that entire upper left-hand corner of the map. while he has isolated sanctuary, he did move all “scrappable” items from other houses, as well as the scrap from around the neighborhood, to the work station at the local red rocket that was once near his home. 

LOCAL LEADER / SETTLEMENTS: the settlements that gevanni uses most prevalently, thus sending eventual supply lines to run between, are the red rocket (main), the outpost zimonja, the tafington boathouse, a brief supply line that only runs supplies from abernathy farm (the only inhabitants that live there are the abernathy family), the coastal cottage (a private settlement), the house in diamond city (eventually bought in hopes to have a home in the city for his son, no active supply line as it is in front of the market), and the starlight drive in.

the castle, while considered a settlement, becomes run solely by the minutemen, who gevanni helped “re-establish,” but encouraged preston himself to run as the eventual “general.” gevanni only held the general title until preston was willing to (forced to) take it on himself, having earned it rightfully. 

he eventually creates a supply line with the nakano home for the far harbor section of his story, but does not actively turn the nakano home into a settlement, similar to abernathy farm. the nakano house becomes a tradeline. 

for the most part, gevanni tends to occupy the more previously uninhabited (or inhabited by raiders) settlements for his reconstruction projects, leaving settlements that function on their own alone, instead just establishing trade routes and supply lines with them. bunker hill is another good example of this practice.

ALIGNMENTS: the minutemen (originally, see local leader for more, formerly “the general”), the railroad. nick is a major reason, along with my viewing the railroad as a supplement for the SPK, that gevanni chooses to side with synths and synth-sympathizers. 

in the end, gevanni would choose to live his life with the synth version of his son, shaun. he would destroy the institute, allowing synths that has been already made and introduced to the world, or freed from the institute before its destruction, to live, while ceasing new synth production entirely. 

notably: gevanni did a lot of work for the brotherhood of steel at first, finding a sort of soldier’s bond, commonality, and a nostalgia factor that made the idea of becoming an initiate enticing. eventually, however, he breaks ties with them, which leaves it open to whether or not they would have to be “chased out” of the commonwealth, would actively start a war with gevanni and his alignments, or would continue on their own business silently without his involvement ... or until their involvement becomes too great to ignore. 

either way, there is likely a clash with the brotherhood, though i would imagine they would have definite interest in dismantling the institute, potentially creating a point of compromise between gevanni’s interests, the railroad, the minutemen, and the brotherhood all in order to favor a common goal of getting rid of the institute. 

things would likely settle for a while, but eventually, the brotherhood would go back to trying to fulfill their original goals, but also still targeting synths post-destruction of the institute. 

his involvement with danse became a strong friendship. by default, i believe we still could get the synth!danse reveal, with gevanni encouraging danse to follow the route (through some charisma) of being able to leave the brotherhood without being pursued for execution via elder maxson’s promise, find his own life in the commonwealth, and potentially have ties with the railroad (given his identity). he and gevanni do not pursue a romantic relationship, but have a “soldier’s bond.”

FAR HARBOR: TBA

NUKA WORLD: gevanni fully clears out nuka world, giving it back to the people of the commonwealth. he does not work with raiders, so this is pretty open / shut.

[sillyandquiteawkward]

Hello yes i am anon who asked to infodump (first off, i just wanna say I've been following you for a long while and i really love your art, your ocs, and the stories you've build up for them. It really keeps me motivated to work on my own Fallout stuff even if it might not be my fixation all the time) anyway here goes (may be very disorganized because i can't make new paragraphs for some reason-) - pt 1

Pt 2 - So, in my Fallout 4 story (which I call "Nobody's Fallout" because one of the main characters was previously named "Nobody" before I changed it because it got confusing) there are basically 3 "Sole Survivors;" Chester (who is the "main" Sole Survivor. He follows the storyline the most), Atom (a robotics student before the war), and Shiv (a synth sent by the Institute to replace Atom's twin (Dust)).

Pt 3 - Chester and Atom were frozen in Vault 111, Chester's son (Shaun) being kidnapped by the Institute, wife killed by Kellogg yada yada, but Atom was generally spared from that apart from only being bioscanned by the Institute while in cryostasis. Chester becomes the General of the Minutemen, and eventually the Head of the Institute, which he reworks completely with the help of Atom and Shiv to help the surface with their technology rather than hinder it.

Pt 4 - Atom was released from cryostasis three months before Chester due to a malfunction, and traveled a bit before settling in the General Atomics Galleria, where he reprogrammed the robots using his robotics engineering and to help him both defend and build it up. Eventually, he starts gathering settlers into the Galleria, and eventually turns it into a town called Refuge, which then eventually becomes a Synth Refuge once he joins the Railroad.

Pt 5 - An imprint of Atom's mind had already been helping the Institute, though, because he and his sibling participated in the same brain scan program that the original Nick Valentine was ordered to go through. Atom's knowledge of robotics helped the Institute in developing Synths more, which, ironically, was the same imprint in the synth sent to replace him.

Pt 6 - Shiv (as stated before) is a synth who was created by the Institute, specifically much more of a prototype that was designed to be nearly indestructible. They were sent under Shaun's orders (along with another synth (A5) who was sent to replace Atom) to watch over Chester so that Shaun had someone who could directly send intel on what Chester was doing.

Pt 7 - (I've kind of lost track of where to go with this from here but more or less each of the 3 "Sole Survivors" go their own routes in order to tie in every companion and every faction. The Brotherhood's Prydwin is still destroyed tho, but not until after Shiv basically saves Danse from Maxon and helps Danse come to terms with his… synth-ness)

pt. 8(?) (BTW, if there's any parts that are missing lemme know and I'll resend it)

---- (looks like i got all the parts!)

WHOA I LOVE THIS! i love how the stories interconnect and twist around each other, im a big fan of that! also a HUGE fan of refuge, i really like the idea of building up a town esp such a cool location of the galleria. and all the synths running around, the Drama. i love it

[fallsky-19]

SAY HI TO AUTUMN, FALL'S GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRAND AUNT LMAO

fallout 4 oc lore down below kekeke:

so Autumn is Fall's great aunt. how dafuq? easy. James, Fall's father, is a descendant of Autumn's brother. not much is known about her brother, they're just distant and barely communicated with each other, with Autumn being busy as a military lawyer, meeting her husband there, having Shaun and raising a family and then the bombs dropping.

her waking up to the irradiated commonwealth two centuries later with her family taken from her, she stumbles through the events of the game as a grieving widow with an odd propensity for firearms and seemingly having formal power armor training (she got the x-01 power armor after finding it locked behind a security gate. yall know this location. i forgor. but its under a satellite.), and she sticks to nick valentine, as someone who has memories of the old world, so she confides in him about her husband's memories and of their child, sharing how as she lives on in current day boston, she notices that her memories of her husband is slipping from her at an alarming rate. she always wears her ring, carrying her husband's ring in her pocket at all times, as well as visiting his tomb in vault 111 from time to time to keep him alive in her memories to no avail. she only ever remembers the day the bombs fell and watching him getting shot vividly and clearly.

that's about it for custom lore really, everything else is followed by in-game storylines. she's pro-synth, pro-robot, likes collecting and repairing power armors she found, isnt as quick as her great grand niece when killing but just as deadly, maybe even more considering her being possibly trained in firearms (she is incredibly secretive of her past, matching deacon in the amount of times she switches up her stories as a woman from the old world, though one thing is for sure: valentine definitely recognizes her shooting to be from the old world, as if shes trained by an institution). and she sided with the railroad to blow up the institute. and since she sided with the railroad, she also blew up the prydwen.

but she saved synth shaun tho and is living in sanctuary hills with him, treating him no less than a son. with the brotherhood being forced out of the commonwealth, Fall decides to travel there after hearing that the Brotherhood is being led by a familiar name (she terribly misses the DC chapter Brotherhood and wants to see them again to take a break from the Mojave chapter) and upon arriving there and learning of the fate of Lyons' Brotherhood as well as Maxson's administration, she seeks out Autumn to see for herself who felled the DC chapter and thats when they both stare at each other for a while, having a little bit of "...why do you look familiar".

upon learning of Fall's last name does Autumn recognize her as a relative, as their last name is uncommon in America (their parents being immigrants seeking refuge after China had successfully invaded their country for resources in the war).

[galaxycunt]

Got tagged by @captastra @socially-awkward-skeleton @the-lastcall @darkfire1177 @clonesupport

So I figured I gotta do a wip now lmao

A trader approached them, so she waved him down to gather supplies.

“Hold on a sec,” his hand hovered above his holster, “you don’t look like one of the patrols.”

“What?”

“Where’d you get that suit?”

Mara glanced at her outfit carefully, “what patrol?”

“I asked first,” he said raising his voice.

MacCready turned the safety off his gun in a blink, ready for her word.

“I’m from a vault, up near Concord. I’m not from any patrol, okay?”

She even turned around to show the bold 111 on her back. The man seemed apologetic, though he didn’t say so.

“Alright, just watch yourself. Vaulties ain’t as smart as they think.”

“Don’t I know it. Hey, what vault you thinking of?”

Mara even turned an old alarm clock around to show she was harmless, a regular paying customer.

“Only one I seen with people still in it is 81, they might wanna know there’s more out there.”

She nodded, paid for her things and marked the location on her map. She usually hated wearing the pipboy, but figured the trader wasn’t going to steal it. She still couldn’t figure out the new social rules of this place.

“That was weird.”

“Yeah,” MacCready said.

He never liked vaults. He only ever met one person from a vault, besides her, that he could stand. Kinda funny, he thought to himself, similar numbers too. Supermutants lived in the vault where he grew up, monsters they called them. Never actually did anything to the kids until they left for Big Town, but he wondered if they were even from the same place.

Lucy knew someone from the same vault, 101. But, he didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t want to think about DC or anyone in it at all.

“We’re checking it out aren’t we?”

“Hell yeah, we are.”

He sighed, “vaults give me the creeps.”

She shrugged, “never been to one full of live people before.”

MacCready studied her face, she wanted some connection. He only knew the broad strokes; frozen for two centuries, family dead, baby missing. They never ventured back on that hill to go back. She buried the people inside long ago.

“Let’s go that way now,” he said softly.

The smile she gave him made him feel lighter than air.

[boomhealers]

Fan quests n companions templates

The quest template was based on new vegas, and the companions one is based on fallout 4. Not every reactable thing is listed (theres a LOT) so feel free to modify as you wish! Credit is super preferred but also I wouldn’t be mad if u didnt credit me uhaddasdasda.

Quest template first, then the longass companion template! Ill put an example for each in a different post, id be waaaay too long dsasafdsfsda

Title Location: Given by: Reward: Previous quest: Next quest: Details:

Dialogue tree:

-----------------------------------

Name [Perk]

[General] Likes: Loves: Dislikes: Hates: [Event specific reactions] Brotherhood of steel arrival: Sentinel site: Glowing sea: UFO landing: Swatter guy: Helping the deathclaw: Nora/Nate death in vault 111: Pickman gallery: Goodneighbor: Diamond City: Power Armor: Chem use: Covenant: Creepy places in general: Chem addiction: DC guard comments: Jumping from heights: Drive in theater: [Character specific unique reactions] [Injury quotes] [Death quotes] -------------------------

[bluepriestess]

for the couple asks: 3, 5, 15, 24, andddd 25 for whoever you’re feeling!

Hmmmmmmmm imma go with Citrine and Deacon!

Prompt list: x

3. What's their favorite thing to tease each other about?

Citrine likes to tease Deacon by wearing random hats or glasses whenever theyre out scavenging or on some mission and pretending to be someone else lol (since thats how they met and stuff etc etc) he'll come up to her like hey babe heres a-- and shes like idk who you are..........i am......bitrine..... and hes just like 🧍‍♂️ kshjfhsf

Deacon LOVES to tease Citrine since she doesn't cuss so she'll be pissed and wracking her brain over trying to find the right word and he'll just cuss for her like she'll go to say what in the sam hill and as shes saying it he will somehow materialize and yell fuck as loud as he can and then shes like >:( language

5. How do they sleep?

I feel like Deacon has trained himself to be a light sleeper/sleep anywhere in any kind of environment/light so I think he tends to just sleep on his back whenever theyre at a safe location and then Citrine just nuzzles into his side to siphon his warmth

15. What habits or characteristics have they picked up from each other?

Deacon definitily has picked up some of Citrines non-cuss words lol hell catch himself not cuss and is like wtf while Citrine is like :3c

Citrine on the other hand has taken to being more vigilant and aware of her surroundings. Deacon can casually scope out the room or the area without looking like hes doing it and now Citrine can do it as well, sometimes even better than him!

24. How did they fall for each other?

well for Citrine it was definitely a lot harder for her as he looks like the spitting image of her dead pre-war fiance so she was actually kind of scared of him at first lol but once they were friendly and comfortable, she loved his compassion and dedication to helping synths. there was one particular evening where they were having a get together at the railroad base and Citrine glanced over at him and he was already looking at her with this look that reminded her of her old fiance and something just ignited in her. Citrine fell fast and hard :)

I personally believe that Deacon had gone down to the vault before Citrine had been thawed and definitely was like 😳 when he saw her (here is a link to a reddit post about a snipers nest by vault 111 that has a railroad sigil, I think Deacon had been watching the vault for some time/some reason) but with Deacon's past, I think he was reluctant to love again for obvious reasons, but I like to think that he fell for her a little bit everyday :)

25. Who said "I love you" first?

Citrine :) she couldnt help it once she had fallen into a comfortable pattern with him. she just said it off hand one night and didn't even realize it until he had stopped what he was doing and was just :0 and then she realized kfjkefj

[radioactive-synth]

Hey! Out of curiosity, what mod do you use to make ghoul characters in fallout? I've been looking for a good one but only managed to find one and it uh.. broke my game (I couldn't exit Vault 111 no matter how hard I tried) :(

hey! im using this mod to have them! this mod only works if you start a new game, and it will change both 'Nate' and 'Nora' skin textures to ghoul skin. so you cant use this mod together with any other mod that can bring both 'Nora' and 'Nate' in same time, but it can work with any other custom companion. also there arent any more options in looks menu, besides just sculpting their faces and body, so no scars, makeup or damages. but hair and eyes options work good! besides facial hair option which....understandable.

some mods for eyes which are useful and work 95% with the ghoul mod: mod 1, mod 2, mod 3, mod 4. these work with any player character so no need to deactivate them, they work very well.

for hair mods i recommend: mod 1, mod 2, mod 3, mod 4, mod 5, mod 6

examples of my ghoul ocs by now:

for Libby, i used the normal hair mods (its a combination of 2 hair styles, from 'lots more hair options' mods) and vanilla eyes, so its all blended well. i only sculpted her face just a bit.

for Michael, as you can see close by, the 'blind' eyes arent blending well, so thats why 95% of eyes options work, but this is from an eye mod. if you want to use the ghoul eyes from another mod or the vanilla eyes, it will blend well. for his skin color, i did modified it using LOOKSMENU and this mod.

i broke my game 3 times and i always done a clean slate, so if you didnt done it yet, reinstall the game and make first save file with no mods. then reinstall all mods you think it can work. on second file, try the ghoul mod and create your own ghoul oc. remember to deactivate the ghoul mod when you play any other character, otherwise it can screw up the skin textures of existent player character. all other mods i recommended are perfect for any other player character.

if you want to skip the start and have it totally different, use this mod. this is a bit risky mod, and its recommended if you truly want to skip the vault start, and start in any other location. dont use it if you want to go through the vault start, as it will crash the game (it happened to me).

if you have more questions or want more mods, let me know!

[shevaults]

general details

full name:  nora ella bradford (nee fitzgerald) nickname(s):  blue, general age:  28 / 238 place of birth:  springfield, massachusetts current location:  sanctuary hills, the commonwealth (commonwealth of massachusetts) gender:  cis female pronouns:  she/her occupation:  general of the minutemen education level:  high; has a pre-war law degree speaking voice and accent:  american

physical appearance

faceclaim:  game screenshots / margaret qualley height:  5'8 body and build:  well fed, soft skin which lacks scars from the surface; not malnourished or blemished like many other members of the commonwealth tattoos:   none

health

sociability:  very social; she's always willing to help a friendly settlement, even despite the crushing mental pain of it all! addictions:  none drug/chem use:  only when hancock is being a bad influence; pre-war, the most she touched was pot back in college alcohol use:  socially, or when she needs to drown out her thoughts

personality

positive traits: intelligent, perceptive, determined, resourceful, brave, empathetic negative traits: emotionally guarded, self-critical, workaholic likes: justice and fairness, companionship, dogs, preserving history, strategic planning, pre-war items, scavenging for materials dislikes: rude people, dirt under her fingernails, excessive chem usage, corruption and injustive, violence and cruelty, dishonesty, super-mutants, mole rats, feral ghouls, bloatflies, deathclaws, lack of order

family & relationships etc

husband: nate bradford ( deceased ) children: shaun bradford (deceased) mother: anne fitzgerald ( deceased ) father: henry fitzgerald ( deceased )

backstory

this will contain spoilers for fallout 4. read at your own risk!

when nora met nate, it was in a bar near college where she was studying to be a lawyer. their relationship was unexpected: nora wasn't looking for anything serious, but she and nate hit it off and it was evident there was a one of a kind connection there. nate proposed a year later; nora said yes.

nora graduated top of her college class, much to her parents' pleasure, and earned her law degree at suffolk county school of law. truth be told, a degree in law was more their dream than nora's, but she grew to see the merit in it. she would work as an attorney prior to the war.

when nora fell pregnant, it wasn't part of the plan. her parents had been adamant about her being successful like her father, but nora decided to focus on family first. she wanted this baby; she wanted a family with her husband. it felt like the first decision she'd made for herself about her own life. she was happy, even if her parents were displeased.

nate was called to war. her mother grew sick at the same time. nora watched, pregnant and fearful, as the news coverage from the war rolled over the tv screen. with her family in tatters, nora left her job as an attorney, distracting herself from waiting for the next letter from her husband by joining groups consisting mostly of other housewives within sanctuary hills. the homeowners society started off as a neighborly gesture; something to focus on in the calm between the storm. clear the roads, arrange some spring dumpsters, arrange a summer bbq. like any of it really mattered.

nate returned from war in january 2077. her mother passed away a month before shaun was born. on the morning of october 23, 2077, nate was preparing to go to an event at the veteran's hall in concord. while getting ready, a vault-tec representative visited the family with pre-approved admission into vault 111.

mere moments later, a news bulletin warned of an imminent nuclear attack, which forced nate, nora, and shaun to rush to the vault prior to a nuclear bomb detonating nearby. after entering the vault, the family, alongside the other admitted residents, were placed in cryogenic sleep under the guise of decontamination.

in 2227, her cryogenic sleep was disturbed by conrad kellogg and two agents whose intentions were to kidnap shaun. she was forced to watch as her husband was murdered by kellogg for trying to prevent the kidnap before she was frozen once more. sixty years later, she would be released from her cryo pod and unleashed upon the wasteland in an attempt to find her missing son.

after leaving vault 111 to try and find the kidnapped shaun, she discovered the ruined state of sanctuary and would reunite with her mr. handy, codsworth, where he remained in wait for nora and nate for the past 200 years. he would point them to concord to look for help finding their missing son; along the way, she would meet dogmeat, her loyal companion ever since. she would also meet preston garvey and a group of refugees from quincy, and later, she would help them create a settlement in the ruined neighborhood that housed her pre-war home.

nora travelled to diamond city, the "great green jewel of the commonwealth", and met a detective, nick valentine, and a reporter, piper wright, who would ultimately help her track down kellogg. nora murdered him, but she felt no better. the grief remained. through his cybernetics, however, they were able to access his memories and uncover vital information about the commonwealth's boogeyman: the institute. the institute, creators of human-like synths that would replace the commonwealth's loved ones with synth copies, had her son... and shaun was no longer a baby, but a ten year old boy.

at some point she would meet john hancock, the ghoul mayor of goodneighbor, and began travelling the commonwealth with him.

nora did not deal with grief and emotion well as she tried to find her son. at all.

she was advised to seek out the railroad, known enemies of the institute who were dedicated to freeing synths. with their help, she managed to gain access to the institute... only to find that her son, shaun, was the leader of it, and that he was now a sixty year old man. he begged her to see the good the institute could do for the future of humanity, but all nora could see were the missing loved ones left in its wake. when shaun called his own father's death "collateral damage," she vowed to herself that she would take down the institute for good so that they could never take another person's loved one ever again. nora began to work with shaun in order to uncover information under the guise that she was considering joining his faction.

unfortunately, the railroad refused to believe that nora was not truly with the institute and cast her out. from now on, she was in this alone... or so she thought.

preston, one of the last minutemen of this era, would ask for nora's help defending settlements that were in danger. despite her own issues, she would do so, managing her mission to find her son and help the people of the commonwealth where she could. later, preston would ask nora to take on the title of general of the minutemen, a title she somewhat reluctantly accepted. nora began to rebuild the minutemen in an effort to gather enough strength to bring down the institute.

shaun would prove time and time again that he did not care for sentient synths or the future of the commonwealth, only the institute. he told her that he released her from her vault to see what would happen like a little experiment. nora realised that he was too far gone to change; he had been conditioned too much by his captors.

once she was made general and she'd reached a certain level of trust within the institute, nora would murder shaun with a simple "i'm sorry" and a shot to the head, narrowly escaping the institute with her life.

nora would eventually destroy the institute with the help of the minutemen. she considered taking it over herself, especially since shaun had named her his successor, but she couldn't stand by an organization that still wounded her to this day. the possibility that she'd actually be able to make any change... it was slim. nora was a realist, not an idealist. she knew what had to be done.

thanks to nora, the institute fell, and the commonwealth was safe... at least from the institute.

nora and hancock eventually engage in a somewhat unspoken romance. it's still new; nora still wears her wedding ring. she's still grieving, and yet hancock provides her with a comfort she can't deny. despite her worry for his chem usage, despite their differences, they both wanted to do right by the commonwealth... and above all, they cared for one another.

nora buried nate and shaun behind her house in sanctuary. she would continue to expand the minutemen, protectors of the commonwealth, and set up settlement after settlement under armed minutemen protection all across its territory. it was a way for her to find purpose after the dust had settled, even if sometimes it did sometimes feel like she was just doing it because if she didn't, she'd have nothing left.

ever the workaholic, nora managed to turn sanctuary hills into its own little diamond city. you'll find her most days travelling from place to place, most likely attending to a settlement that needs help or dealing with the latest wasteland menace.

if you manage to convince her to take a break from the work that distracts her from the chaos in her mind, you might just have a silver tongue to rival her own.

[nerdynanny]

synth!codsworth headcanons!

so these are specifically for my synth AU that will be the primary verse of his character [though Handy Codsworth interactions are always open to folks]. this MAIN AU is set during the Fallout TV series.

in the canon i'm writin, this will be a MINUTEMEN controlled Commonwealth set about a decade after Fallout 4. the institute is gone, the brotherhood has fled, and the MINUTEMEN protect the commonwealth.

the former mr handy turned synth CODSWORTH is made mayor of the settlement of Sanctuary, located outside the ruins of VAULT 111. the sole survivor [nate, unless dealing with a female sosu] has made him mayor and he serves as a second hand to the general of the minutemen.

i'll probably make variants of this AU if folks wanna do a Brotherhood run [in which case Codsworth is a refugee and has fled the Commonwealth along with many other synths and ghouls], but the primary focus is a Minuntemen or Railroad run.

[commonwealthoccurences]

Back To Eden - ch7

I'm gonna be totally real I thought I uploaded this days ago and apparently never did and just assumed I did. Apologies lmao, I will drop the tidbit that ao3 gets chapters as soon as they're finished since there's no algorithm, so I upload them anywhere between 10pm to 3 am on there and then Tumblr gets the same chapter the next day any time after noon

Summary: Sole is a journalist and independent investigator who worked with the famous Detective Nick Valentine before the bombs dropped. They stumble out of Vault 111 with hazy memories of a case gone awry, a sense of desperate yearning, and the bitter experience of already having had to fight for their life to survive against the odds. What's a little nuclear wasteland to a (newly) seasoned investigator?

See masterlist for warnings.

Fic-long tags: Hurt comfort, angst, pining, flashback scenes, noir detective show meets post-apocalyptic chaos, Preston Garvey is a sweetheart, Sole is doing their best and living out of pure spite, slow burn (Nick/Sole), etc etc.

Sole opened the door to the clinic with a wide grin, stepping outside as Preston looked up at them from the bottom of the steps. “Well?” He asked.

“I’ve been cleared for light lifting and don’t have to use the crutches unless I get tired.” Sole practically sang.

The creases around Preston’s eyes deepened as he smiled and wrapped his arms around them, clapping Sole on the back heartily. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks, I’m so glad I can finally do stuff. Sturges has some ideas for making that water purification system, and I’m hoping we can have some sort of irrigation set up by the fall. Ooh, or maybe a shower! I’ve been dying for a shower.”

“Sounds like you’ve got big plans.”

“Yeah! I mean, I’m so glad I can do more. Spend less time sitting around twiddling my thumbs, y’know?”

“I distinctly recall you recovering from life-threatening injuries, not ‘twiddling your thumbs.’” 

“Same thing,” Sole grinned.

It seemed Sole was not the only one with plans for what had previously been free time. Occasionally, when Curie would demand they would rest and Preston would set them up in their chair so they’d at least have a scenic location to keep an eye on, someone would come around to talk about the Commonwealth with them. Curie, Preston, or Sturges would sit with them for some time and answer their questions or tell stories about their time traveling, just so Sole could get a grasp about what things were like now.

And after almost a month collectively above ground in the settlement, Sole wasn’t finding their tales as shocking anymore. Sure, it was still utterly horrifying at some points– Sole had nearly thrown up when Curie had described her encounters with patients with acute radiation poisoning and the different medications recommended for traveling now. Deathclaws, too, nearly had Sole falling out of their chair. They had been around before the war, but under strict containment by the military, and of course the damn things escaped and were still around. 

Synths, too, had been explained to them. It took a couple of different explanations and many asked questions, but Preston had been most surprised when their reaction was, “Huh. Okay, that’s cool.”

But now that they were cleared for a little more activity, Preston didn’t hesitate in insisting they practice self-defense. Sole still struggled with vertigo, and according to Curie, likely would for a while. However, Preston’s protective switch had flipped and while he made sure to ease them into it and protect them from overexertion, he wanted them capable of keeping their bearings about them even if they were having a vertigo episode in the middle of being attacked.

Along with brushing up on their self-defense came brushing up on their weapons training. Oftentimes, this had to be cut short and, thankfully, Preston didn’t ask any questions. Sometimes, when he was reminding them how to stand or to be wary of recoil, they heard Nick in him and it nearly tore them apart. Preston grew to recognize the look in their eyes when this was happening, though he never told them and he never knew what was behind that look.

All Preston knew was the way their eyes would cloud over and they’d stare off into the distance, seemingly listening but hearing something other than what he was saying. At this, he knew it was time to call it a day and let them recover in their own time. As much as he didn’t want to keep putting them in that position, them being as familiar with their weapon as they were with their own skin was essential in the wasteland. He would not bury Sole in that unoccupied grave.

While they didn’t gossip, Preston and Sturges often had quiet conversations about their concerns for Sole. Somewhere in the month they’d been in the settlement they’d both grown quite fond for them. It was rare to find genuine people in the Commonwealth and loyalties formed fast with how short life was in the wasteland. The two could see quite clearly that something was wrong, and while that was to be expected with what they had been through and all of the things they weren’t talking about, it still worried them every time reality seemed to escape them and their expression grew distant.

Still, Sole stubbornly pushed on. The turret at the back of Sanctuary was set up rather quickly, and a list of parts they needed for the water purifier was made for the next person to leave the settlement and go scavenging. Sole moved into the community house. Life stumbled on, and Sole followed close behind.

Sole and Valentine had propped themselves up in a diner booth, silent as they both sipped at cups of coffee. Sole had started taking theirs black just like Valentine not long after they had started working together; it didn’t taste any better, but the harsh, biting bitterness almost did more than the caffeine did to wake them up. Considering they had been awake for the last 36 hours, they certainly needed both the caffeine and the disgusting flavor.

Nick looked just as vacant as they did, his bleary eyes staring straight past them at nothing. Sole chose to look out the window, eyes scanning over everything but absorbing nothing. They’d had a long night, trying to collect evidence on their suspect, Jim. Unfortunately, while everyone on the case agreed that he was suspicious and they would be keeping an eye on him, there was no way they could keep him detained any longer.

Both Nick and Sole were feeling the mistake they’d made. In hindsight, they definitely should’ve trailed him for far longer and tried to catch him in a slip-up. The stress of the case had gotten to their heads and they’d just wanted to make progress. Unfortunately, that had cost them the upper hand. Now, Jim knew that he was being watched and the pair were losing steam. Sole sighed and sat back in the booth. Stars danced across the dark of their closed eyes as they pressed their fingertips to their eyelids, hoping that would somehow clear their bone-deep exhaustion.

With a jaw-splitting yawn, Sole shuddered in their seat and returned their gaze out the window. The early morning had greeted them with the chirping of birds and morning foot traffic as everyone went out for their coffee before starting work. You could feel the start of the seasonal shift as August crept forward; summer was reaching its fever pitch and waiting eagerly to tip into the beginning of fall. Time was running out, and Sole had no idea where they were going to start after their recent dead-end. 

A shape caught their eyes. Despite everyone rushing around on their morning trips to the office, there was a lone figure standing on the sidewalk across the street. Sole sat up slightly, the hairs on their arms standing up. The sixth sense they’d gained over their career was setting their spine rigid, a tingle crawling up their back and making them grit their teeth. Sole focused their eyes and took a sharp breath when they realized who they were looking at. The man of the morning, the freshly released Jim Grayson. And he was simply staring at them with that awful smile.

Their inhale snapped Nick’s eyes back to them and he immediately took in their body language. “Sole? What’s wrong?” He urged quietly.

“He’s here.”

But he wasn’t, not anymore. In the spare few moments when Nick had snapped back to attention and Sole had glanced away to reply, Grayson had disappeared. They swallowed, “Nick I swear to God he was just there. He was right there.”

“I believe you. That son of a bitch…”

The language took Sole by surprise; no matter how frustrated Nick had gotten in the past, he’d always maintained that specific detective image he had. Nick sat forward and rested his elbows on the tabletop, mug empty and shoved aside. He rubbed his hands over his face, scratching briefly at the stubble forming along his jaw before he jerked his fingers through his hair and shoved his hat back on his head. “You’re not going back home.”

“What? Nick!”

“Listen, I’m not trying to scare you, I’m trying to protect you. I wouldn’t be surprised if he already knows where you live, and with how little you’ve been sleeping sending you home would be a total disregard for your safety. We can send a patrol with you to pick up some things, but–”

“I’m not sleeping at the station. Nick, I already spend 99% of my time there, I’ll lose my mind.”

“Then you’ll stay with me.”

Sole blinked. They weren’t sure if they were more shocked by his willingness to avoid arguing or the offer he was making. They chuckled nervously, “I don’t know if that’s necessary.”

Nick sat forward. “I will not send you home to your death.”

His stare was the polar opposite of what it had been minutes later. The intensity reminded Sole of exactly why he had the reputation of being such a successful interrogator. Already broken down from lack of sleep and unwilling to pick a fight on 36 hours of sleep in a public diner with a creep potentially watching, Sole relented. “Alright, fine. You win. Better stay with you rather than the entire police department watching me sleep.”

Valentine sighed and his posture relaxed. “Thank you.”

Sole halfheartedly mock saluted. “Just following orders, boss.”

He screwed up his face. “Please never do that again.”

Sole put their hands on their hips. “I can do it.”

“Sole, it’s just not smart.”

“Well, I never said it was smart, but it needs to be done and you can’t spare anyone else.”

“I can’t spare you, either! What happens if you go out there and end up dead?”

Sole sighed and threw their hands up a little, somewhat exasperated. “Preston, think about it. You survived without me before, and you could do it again. You can’t send Sturges, because he’s too essential to putting this settlement back together. You can’t send Mama Murphy– I don’t even need to explain that one. Marcy can’t go because of Jun, and Jun can’t go because he’s got his own stuff to deal with. Curie is more indisposable than the rest of us put together. The only reason she went out last time was because no one else could. And you sure as hell can’t go. You’re the glue around here.”

Preston pressed his lips together and shook his head. “And you? You aren’t disposable here even though you seem to think you are.”

“Look, I don’t think I’m disposable, but I do think that this needs to get done and I’m the best person to do it.”

They’d been bickering on and off all day since Sturges brought up the urgency of the water purifier. They were running out of the purified water that the bunker had provided, and Sole had immediately volunteered to go scavenging for more. Sensing an argument and thinking better of sticking around, Sturges had announced that he’d let them figure it out and immediately left. 

Preston had made the mistake of indulging in theoreticals. First, he had ixnayed the idea of them scavenging at random. It was too dangerous for them to be running around at random, he’d said, and if they were going to be going anywhere it would be on the main roads to Diamond City. He considered that the safest route. Unfortunately for Preston, that was the exact moment he’d lost the argument, and he’d known it. Despite the fact that hours later they were still going back and forth about it, they both knew it was futile.

Luckily, Sole wasn’t reliant on their crutches anymore, and they had been getting their strength back to normal. Sometimes they still had bouts of muscle weakness, but it wasn’t so bad if they didn’t push themselves too hard, and they were starting to get antsy with the way everyone seemed to watch to make sure they weren’t doing too much. Preston especially. “Preston, we both know that we can’t go much longer without the parts for the water purifier. And I can get more supplies than just the parts while I’m there. We need more crop seeds. We both did inventory yesterday, you know this.”

Preston looked defeated. Thoroughly worn out, and wholeheartedly defeated. Sole knew he hadn’t been sleeping, they knew he hadn’t been eating properly so Jun and Mama Murphy could get extra, and he had been watching the water supply closer than he watched them. He needed sleep. He needed someone to step up on equal footing and take part of the burden, and unfortunately, that required pushing back and arguing, not just following every order he gave. Someone needed to take care of him the way he took care of everyone else, and Sole was there for the job.

They stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, voice low. “I’m not doing this to be an ass or out of spite. I’m doing this because we both know it’s the only option. You’ve had me in bootcamp for a good minute here, and Curie thinks this is my new ‘top shape.’ Let me help, Preston. Let me do the right thing.”

Preston looked up and took a sharp breath before crushing them into his chest for a minute. After a tight squeeze, he pushed them away and didn’t meet their eyes. “Fine.” He didn’t seem pleased, the concern still carving lines between his brows. “I don’t like it.”

“I know, Pres’. But I’ll be alright. Always am.”

His chuckle was dry, though he nodded. “ Always defying the odds, yeah? Dammit. Let’s go talk to Sturges, then. Make sure he’s in the loop and can get you everything you need together before you go.”

Next chapter will be much longer (rough est. about 6k words) as a heads up!

[wasteiandbaby]

STORYLINE AND IMPORTANT LORE

❝𝙒𝘼𝙍 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙎.❞

The year is 2287 and a decade has passed since the events of Fallout 3, following the Lone Wanderer's journey and how they were able to purify all sources of water across the post-apocalyptic wasteland once known as North America after their parents, James and Catherine, former Institute scientists hadn't been able to achieve their dream of doing so, but even now, conflict spurs onwards by the Brotherhood Of Steel, Caesar's Legion, the New California Republic, the Institute, the Railroad and possibly other groups out there.

In the southwest section of the map, a package Courier was shot and left for dead while a platinum chip was stolen from their possession by a man named Benny, though through one way or another, the chip went from his person to the hands of the Insitute in the Commonwealth, who have plans to spread their influence to the Mojave Desert after learning of the intact civilizations located around New Vegas as well as the rumors surrounding the Lucky 38 and Mr. House. Over in the Commonwealth, a woman known as the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 recently awoke after a total of two-hundred and ten years spent in cryogenic stasis, venturing out into the wastes in search of the scar-eyed mercenary who killed her husband and took her son, sticking to the trail he's left behind and heading towards the Mojave in spite of rumors floating in the air that a man and a boy were once seen traveling in that direction.

TLDR :

Ten years have passed since the events of FO3, FNV and Fallout 4 are combined into one storyline, which takes place in 2287, but FO3 characters are accepted and encouraged to be brought in.

The NCR and Caesar's Legion are fighting each other for control of the Hoover Dam for a second time around, while the Insitute is looking for ways to insert themselves in the long run fight as well.

Insitute moles have made their way into the Mojave desert, including both ordinary humans and Synths, but has yet to infilirate the NCR or the Legion with any of its' operatives, in spite of the fact that both groups are highly suspicious and alert.

The Insitute (and Benny) are the only ones with knowledge of how the platinum chip works currently and wants Mr. House's Securitron army and the amount of technology within the Lucky 38 so they can spread their influence around New Vegas.

Kellog's last known whereabouts were along the path to the southwest, prompting the Sole Survivor to pursue him to the desert. The platinum chip has been stolen from Benny and is currently enroute to the Commonwealth in the hands of a Courser Synth, leaving Courier Six, after their miraculous survival in Goodsprings, with no other option to head to the place formerly known as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.