#shes a morally confused raider

[queenxxxsupreme]

At the End of the World

(Cooper Howard x Reader)

A/N: I know absolutely squat about the Fallout universe but I like to think I’ve done my research good enough. This is my first kick at trying a Cooper Howard x reader so I am getting a feel for his character, please be kind :) Enjoy!

Word Count: 4.6k

Warning: nothing outside of canon, little fluffy here and there

Summary: You run into a certain ghoul and the vault dweller he’s taken as hostage.

Side Note: I called the inhaler thing that Cooper uses to keep from going feral a breather cause that sounded better than inhaler in my head??

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her temple into the wall. She licked her lips in an effort to ease the pain she felt. Her lips were so dry they had cracked again and again.

“Better get some shut eye, Vaultie.”

She opened her eyes and looked across the room to the man holding her hostage. Calling him a man was a stretch. He hadn’t been a man for quite some time. Ghoulification had taken over his features long ago, gnarling his skin and turning him into something between man and monster.

Lucy said nothing to him and put her head back against the wall. Part of her wished she had never left the vault. How could people live on the surface? There were no rules, no regulations, not even morals. It was no way to live. She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. She knew she needed to sleep, but she wasn’t sure how much she’d be able to get.

Lucy wasn’t able to concentrate on sleep for very long. After what seemed like just seconds, the Ghoul moved. He straightened his hat and pulled a pistol from the holster on his hip. His eyes remained on the window between himself and Lucy.

“What—?”

”Quiet.” He cut Lucy off.

The vault dweller closed her mouth and tried to listen to whatever the Ghoul heard.

“This has to be where they holed up for the night.” A hushed voice spoke.

”You sure it was a vault dweller, Dart?”

”Positive. You know how much we could get for one of those if we find the right buyer?”

The Ghoul stood to his feet. The wall they were behind was the only bit of building left from what had once been a house. There wasn’t even a roof or another wall, just the piece that Lucy and the Ghoul were hiding behind.

“Looky here, fellas.” A voice came from behind the Ghoul. The sound of a hammer clicking on a pistol made him roll his eyes. “Turn around slow, buddy.”

”You fellas are askin’ for trouble.” The Ghoul warned.

“Drop the gun. Don’t want to hurt you, just want the vaultie.”

The Ghoul let his pistol fall to the dirt floor as he turned to face the unwelcomed guests. The guests consisted of three men and a woman.

“Say, you think we could get anything for a ghoul too?” The woman whispered to the man closest to her.

“It’s far too late in the night for y’all to cause a ruckus.” The Ghoul spoke. “Why don’t you turn around and go back the way you came before one of yous gets hurt?”

One of the men chuckled and shook his head.

“Ain’t no way we’re leaving without her.” He gestured to Lucy with the end of his sawed off shotgun.

Without any warning, a gun was fired once, twice, then three times. The Ghoul watched as all three raiders fell to the ground, blood pouring out of head wounds. His eyes flickered around, seeking out where the shots had come from. He couldn’t see a damn thing in the pitch black night.

Then there was a whistle. It was low and steady, lasting a couple seconds before a second whistle followed.

Lucy’s eyes were wide with panic as she strained to see where the noise came from. She searched the darkness, eyes flighting back and forth. The Ghoul didn’t seem nearly as panicked. In fact, he almost looked confused.

The wind shifted and blew a breeze directly towards him, carrying a familiar scent with it.

“What-What is that?” Lucy croaked. Her throat was so dry that her voice was raspy.

The Ghoul picked up his gun that he had dropped earlier on the ground. He brushed the dirt from it as a grin appeared on his lips.

“Oh that? That ain’t nothin’ but a little ol’ mouse.”

”Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” A soft and sweet voice came from the darkness.

Lucy watched as you moved into her line of sight. You appeared to be human, dressed in black cargo style pants tucked into worn dark brown boots. You wore a dark gray sweatshirt that was tattered around the hem and a brown jacket overtop of the sweatshirt. A dark green scarf wrapped loosely around your neck.

“Haven’t seen you for a while.” The Ghoul spoke, his eyes focused on you.

”Could say the same for you.” Your gaze found Lucy. She offered you a quick and friendly smile, but the sight of your left eye caught the poor girl off guard. It was glowing in the darkness, letting off an electric blue light. “Making new friends, Coop?”

”Ah, you know me. Always looking for a new friend.” The Ghoul’s tone was friendly and light. Lucy had never heard him sound anything close to nice.

You smiled just a little, shaking your head gently as you took a few more steps towards the two.

“Miss? Uh, m-miss?” Lucy tried to move towards you but the sound of the Ghoul pulling the hammer on his pistol back stopped her.

“Wouldn’t do that if I were you, Vaultie. Sit your ass back down.” He gave a stiff nod to the ground where she had been sitting moments ago.

You kept your eyes on Lucy as she returned to her seat. Her eyes found yours again and you had to look away in order to avoid feeling bad for her. The Ghoul sat down and you took the spot right next to him, shrugging your backpack off of your shoulders and placing it between your legs.

“What happened with Dom Pedro?”

”Ain’t important.” He muttered with a shake of his head. You unzipped your backpack and pulled out a canteen.

“What’s your name, girl?”

”Lu-Lucy. My name is— My name is Lucy.” She stammered, pausing to lick her dry lips. “What’s your name?”

You leaned forward to pass her the canteen. She needed it far more than you did.

“Thank you. Oh, thank you so much!” Lucy hastily opened the canteen and began to drink from it rather hastily.

“Friends call me Icy.” You answered her question. “Seems to be what I go by anymore.”

A raspy cough from the Ghoul made you snap your head in his direction. He tried to stifle the cough but it was no use. You had already heard.

“Where’s your breather?”

”Don’t got— Don’t got any vials.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Aint’ no use to me.”

”Where are all your vials at?” You knew him too well. There was no way he’d let himself run out. You pulled your backpack closer to you and began to dig around inside hastily.

”Lost them in a tussle with the Vaultie.”

For a brief second, your eyes flickered up to Lucy. You decided then and there that if Cooper turned, you’d kill her yourself.

“You know, I could kick your ass for being so careless, old man.”

”Suppose you could.” He chuckled but it was cut short by another dry cough. “Wouldn’t- Wouldn’t do you any good, but it sure as hell would make for a good time.”

”Well given your current state, sweetheart, I think the odds would be in my favor.” You pulled out the sachet with vials and handed them to the ghoul. He took it from you, your fingers brushing momentarily but just enough to have your heart beating a little quicker.

“Thank ya, doll.” He murmured quietly. You offered him a smile, watching as he put the vial in his breather and took a hit.

“You two are…. Are you close?” Lucy asked. You turned your attention to her, tilting your head to the side just a bit. She tried to smile, to show that she was trying to be friendly.

“Lucy, was it?”

”Yes.” She nodded her head.

“Those kind of questions, Lucy, get you a bullet in your gut out here.”

The smile fell from her broken lips and her brows drew together in confusion.

“I-I wasn’t– I didn’t mean it– It was more just an observation.”

You turned your head to Cooper. He tucked the breather into his jacket and then his eyes found you.

“Heard you came into some trouble a few months back.”

“Just got into it with a group of raiders back outside of Targon.” You leaned back against the metal junk he was leaning against. “Just the same old bullshit. Wanted my eye.”

He stayed quiet. He wished he had found you sooner.

“You need to get some sleep.” You leaned over to push your shoulder against his.

Cooper tilted his head down, the brim of his hat covering his eyes.

“Ain’t sleepin’ tonight, doll.”

“When was the last time you slept? You look exhausted.” You reached over to put your hand on his. “You need to sleep, Cooper.”

He held your gaze for a few heartbeats, losing himself in your eyes. He had been worried about you since he crawled out of the grave Dom Pedro had kept him in. He was worried he’d never be able to find you, that perhaps you would be dead when he did get to you.

The ghoul pulled himself out of his own thoughts and rolled his eyes.

“Whatever you say, boss. Don’t let the Vaultie get too friendly.”

You smiled a little.

“Now you know that isn’t me, darling. I don’t let anyone get too friendly.”

“You let me get a little too friendly, if I remember correctly.”

“Shut your mouth, old man.” You smiled up at him. His grin you adored so much was covered up by the brim of his hat as he pulled it down.

You turned your attention to the girl that sat across from you.

“How long have you been upside?”

“Um, I-I don’t know for sure. A few weeks, I think.” She took another sip of water and then scooted a little closer to you so that she could hand the canteen back to you.

“Keep it.” You shook your head.

“Thank you.” She murmured quietly as she settled back into her spot. “Where, um, are you from?”

“Everywhere and nowhere all at once.” You let out a soft breath. “When you live for as long as I have, you don’t keep track of that sort of thing.”

“How…. How long have you been alive?”

“Long enough to know you don’t belong up here, Lucy.”

She held your gaze, almost too afraid to look away.

“I-I have to find my dad. He got taken by-by these raiders. They took him and I have to find him.”

You nodded gently. Lucy looked to the Ghoul, trying to figure out if he was asleep yet. After a couple moments of silence between you and Lucy, she could hear what sounded like gentle snoring.

“Icy, I need to find my dad. Please, you have to let me go.” She whispered.

“Quiet down, girl.” You stood to your feet, adjusting the holster that hung around your hips. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

“Where are you going?”

“Keep watch.”

***

Hours later, the blistering sun was just beginning its task of boiling the earth as it came up from the horizon.

You had been lost in thought, eyes gazing ahead at the sunrise. Your left eye, the cybernetic eye, kept track of the time, the rate the sun was rising, the temperature, and how fast the wind was going.

“Mornin’, pretty girl.”

You looked over your shoulder to see Cooper walking towards you.

“You slept good.” You commented, taking a sip of water. He had snored last night louder than you ever heard before.

“Easy to do when you’re around.” Cooper came to stand beside you, one hand finding the small of your back. “You know, I was– uh– I was worried bout you.”

“Same could be said for me to you.” Your eyes flickered across the baron land before you. There was nothing to see for miles and miles except dirt and remnants of destroyed buildings casting long shadows in the early morning light. “I’d heard whispers thrown around about what Dom Pedro was doing to you. When I get my hands on him–,”

“I don’t want you gettin’ anywhere near him, Icy Mae.”

You clenched your teeth together. Fiery anger swirled in your gut. Cooper’s hand on your back moved just slightly, rubbing your back in an effort to comfort you.

“No need in grinding those little teeth, doll.”

“I’ve spent three years trying to find you.”

“I know.”

“I want to kill him for what he’s done to you.”

Cooper let out a sigh.

“Lemme see those pretty eyes, doll.”

You turned your head away from him even more. You didn’t want him to see the tears that festered in your right eye.

“Look at me, Icy.”

You took in a breath through your nose before begrudgingly turning to face the ghoul. His fingertips found your jaw, tracing the soft skin beneath his calloused fingertips. Blue eyes followed his fingertips as he brushed away the stray tear that slipped down your cheek.

“I was afraid you’d be gone by the time I got to you. So many people I talked to said that you had died.”

“You know ain’t nothin’ gonna keep me from you, doll. Not even death.” He was trying to use his voice to make you feel better. Sometimes you felt that all he had to do was say your name in that raspy drawl of his and everything would be cured.

“Stop trying to charm me, old man.”

“Oh, I ain’t tryin’ to do anything, darling.”

You turned your head away from him, trying to focus on anything else. But he took your chin in his hand, gently turning your head back to him. you had no choice but to look up into his eyes.

“Missed you, woman.” He spoke in a hushed whisper. You couldn’t stay angry with him looking at you. It was rare to see those stern eyes so bright. A smile snuck its way onto your lips. You turned your head to kiss the palm of his hand.

“Distracting me, old man, won’t make me change my mind.”

“He ain’t worth your trouble, doll.” His hand left your face and even though it was hot outside, you found yourself missing the warmth of his touch. He placed his hand on your side, drawing your body a little closer to his.

Out of the corner of your eye you saw something move. You turned your head, disappointed to see Lucy moving towards you and Cooper.

The ghoul sighed as he removed his hand from your side and adjusted his hat, pulling it down just enough so the brim covered his eyes. You turned to face the vault dweller.

“Good morning, Lucy.”

”Good morning.” She smiled lightly. She looked from you to Cooper, unsure of which of you to look at.

“We should leave.” Your words weren’t really meant for her, but instead for the large figure that stood so close behind you.

“Yeah, yeah.” Cooper grumbled. ”Let’s get this show on the road.”

***

A couple hours later, you all walked in a poor excuse of a line. Lucy led the way with you followed just shortly behind her and the Ghoul behind you.

You looked over your shoulder. Cooper kept his right hand on the handle of the gun holster on his hip. He gave you a light nod of his head, to which you smiled.

Lucy slowed down just a little to be able to walk alongside you.

“I just—,”

”Keep moving, Vaultie.” Cooper spoke up from behind you.

“Give her a second, darling.” You looked over your shoulder to flash him a toothy smile.

“Thank you.”

You looked at Lucy out of the corner of your right eye.

“For what?”

”For being so nice to me. Giving me water and-and talking to me.”

You said nothing to her.

”Can I ask you a question?”

”Depends on the question.”

”Is Icy your real name? The name you were born with?”

You almost laughed at her.

“Hardly. Icy is just a nickname I got through the years. Comes from my eye.” You tapped your left temple. You cybernetic eye was a bright blue almost icy color.

“What’s your real name?”

”Why does it matter what my real name is?” You glanced over to her.

”It-It doesn’t. I was just curious.”

”Curiosity will get you killed up here, girly. People don’t think it’s too kind and friendly to be asking all sorts of questions.”

“I-I’m– Okay.” Lucy pressed her lips into a tight line. It was so hard just to make conversation with people from the surface.

You slowed down just a bit so that Lucy would keep walking ahead of you.

“Told you not to be friendly with her.” Cooper bumped your shoulder with his. You rolled your eyes.

“I’m not being friendly. Just trying to make conversation ‘cause I know you aren’t gonna be. What are you doing with her anyways?”

“Originally, I was gonna sell her for more vials. But now that you’re here, plans have changed a bit.” Cooper paused. “She’s a MacLean.”

You turned your head to Cooper, brows furrowing together. Without meaning to, you stopped walking.

“A what?”

“You heard me.”

“How?”

“She’s the daughter of Hank MacLean.”

Your fingers curled into fists by your sides. The very mention of Hank MacLean made your blood boil. The mention of anyone from Vault-Tec was enough to get you angry and ready to start fighting.

“What are we going to do with her?” You found yourself glaring at Lucy as she continued to walk, unaware that the both of you had stopped.

Cooper glanced over to you, adjusting the shotgun he held over his shoulder.

“Use her to get to her daddy.”

“They’ve ruined so many lives, Cooper. Vault-Tec has.”

“Oh, I know, darling.” He started walking again.

The anger in your stomach started to form into something else, into grief. There she was, Hank MacLean’s daughter, walking just ahead of you. Vault-Tec had ended so many lives, broken up so many families. Why did he get to have a family? Why did he get to see his daughter grow up?

Cooper stopped when he noticed you weren’t following him. He glanced back at you, taking note of your left hand that gripped the gun on your hip.

“Come on, Icy Mae.” He called for you. “Ain’t no use gettin’ worked up.”

Lucy stopped upon hearing the Ghoul say your name. She turned back to look at you. Your eyes met hers and you saw her furrow her brows together in confusion. Why did you look so upset, so angry?

“Don’t tell me how to be, Cooper.”

“I ain’t tellin’ you how to be, woman. Just telling you gettin’ mad ain’t gonna do nobody any good.”

“Is something wrong?” Lucy asked.

Your eyes left the girl to find Cooper.

“It isn’t fair, Coop.” You whispered, but he heard you just fine. He said nothing as he held your gaze. “Just isn’t fair.” You took your hand off of the gun and started walking again.

***

The day seemed to drag on for an eternity. No one had spoken very much. Everyone was tired and doing their best to make their energy last.

As the sun went away, camp was made on the outskirts of what used to be a town. The three of you took refuge inside of what appeared to be some kind of overturned bus. A battery powered lamp was on and sat in the middle of the bus, providing the otherwise pitch black night with a tiny source of light.

Lucy sat down against the roof of the bus, moving her hands around in an attempt to get comfortable with the rope around her wrist. You moved towards her, pulling a knife from its holster on your lower back.

”What are you doin’, woman?”

”Yeah, what are you doing?” Lucy shifted in her spot, eyes sticking to the knife you held. She tried to move away, pushing herself backwards. “Hey! Hey—!”

”Quiet down.” You muttered, kneeling down to cut away the rope.

“Oh.” Lucy watched the rope fall away then she rubbed her wrists. “Th-Thank you.”

“Icy, what the hell?”

”May as well let her get comfortable for the night.” You tucked the knife back into the sheath on your back. ”And she can’t go no where. We’re surrounded by nothing. She‘ll die from the elements before she gets far.”

Cooper sighed, putting his hands on his hips. You shrugged off your backpack and placed it down next to his bag. You sat down, adjusting your backpack before leaning against it.

“I’m gonna go have a look around.” He told you. “See if we’re alone out here.”

”Be careful.”

The ghoul gave you a nod, then turned towards Lucy.

“You try anything funny, Vaultie, and I won’t hesitate to skin you alive.”

“I-I won’t. I promise.”

You watched as Cooper slipped out of the overturned bus and disappeared into the night.

Once he was completely gone, you leaned forward to start taking off some of your layers. With the sun down, you didn’t have to worry about its harsh rays.

Lucy watched as you took off the jacket and placed it aside, then pulled the sweatshirt off of your head and added it to the jacket. You were left in a thin tank top that appeared to be a dark shade of brown. The gloves you wore came up to your elbows. You tugged each one off, setting them aside. With all the layers off, Lucy could now see the scars that covered your arms. They were darker than the rest of your skin and seemed to go in a gnarled and twisted pattern from the backs of your hands up to your shoulders.

You looked up, feeling eyes on you. The girl was watching you, her gaze curious but horrified all at once.

“I-I’m sorry.” She stuttered out. “What, um, what happened to you?”

”Got caught in a fire a few years back.” You rubbed your left arm, then started to rub the right one.

”Is that what happened to your eye?”

You stopped moving, her question catching you off guard.

You reached behind you into one of the side pockets and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Then you settled back against the backpack, bringing your eyes up to meet hers.

Your cybernetic eye read her vitals and told you that she was nervous. A slightly elevated heart rate and increased breathing.

”No.” You put the cigarette between your lips then pulled a lighter from a pocket on your pants. “My eye was taken from me at the start of the war.”

”Oh.” She was quiet for a few heartbeats, looking away from you. “Do you mind me asking what happened?”

”Vault-Tec.”

Your answer seemed to surprise her. She drew her eyebrows together.

”Vault-Tec?”

“It’s a long story, girly.” Your face lit up a little as you lit the cigarette.

”Well…. We’ve got time.”

”That we do.” You sunk down a little more to get comfortable.

Lucy could tell you didn’t really want to talk about your eye or Vault-Tec or your scars anymore. She looked down at her hands, rubbing her wrists just a little more before she let out a soft breath.

“How do you know him? That guy?”

”Known him for a while.” You turned your attention to the black sky. ”Ran into each other ages ago. We’d go our separate ways no and again but somehow…. Somehow we always run into each other.”

If the man in question hadn’t been so mean and callous, perhaps Lucy would have smiled.

“But how can you…. How can you be with someone like that? Someone who-who is okay with so much murder and so much cruelty?”

You stayed silent for a few minutes, debating on what to say next. Lucy thought perhaps you were ignoring her, but then you slowly sat up. You crossed your legs and leaned forward with your elbows on your knees.

“I used to have a daughter.” Your voice was hushed, eyes cast down to the flashlight providing a little bit of light. You took a deep inhale of the cigarette. In the same moment that you breathed out a cloud of smoke, you continued to talk. “Used to have a husband too. He was a good man. He’d move heaven and earth for me and my girl.”

You paused to see if Lucy would say anything. When she remained silent, you carried on.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand, Miss MacLean. You’ve only ever known comfort your whole life. You don’t know what people have had to endure up here…. what good people have had to do…. in order to survive.”

Lucy looked away, unable to hold your gaze any longer.

“There are no rules up here, no guidelines, no sense of ethics. If you want to survive, you have to do things you wouldn’t normally do. Good men do bad things to make sure they survive.”

Lucy directed her eyes downward. You flicked the cigarette ashes down onto the ground beside you.

“I’m-I’m sorry about your family.”

Your gaze was drawn to the girl once more.

“About everything you’ve been through.”

A whistle made both of you turn your heads. Lucy almost started to panic, but you shook your head gently.

”It’s just Cooper.” You took another puff from the cigarette. A few moments of silence passed before the Ghoul was making his way back into the overturned bus. “Find anything?” You sat up and offered him the cigarette.

“Nah, there’s nothin’ here but us and dirt.” He sat down next to you, settling with sitting up while you stayed hunkered down with your head on the backpack.

Lucy moved around a bit to get herself comfortable, choosing to lay on her side with her arm under her head as she faced the light.

”It’s your turn to get some sleep, woman.”

You turned your head to look up at Cooper.

“Don’t know if I’m gonna be able to sleep much, darling.” You took the cigarette back from him and puffed on it a little bit.

“You should try.”

You hummed but said nothing more.

After a few minutes, Lucy fell asleep, giving you and the ghoul next to you the smallest bits of privacy.

Neither of you said anything for a long time. You passed the cigarette back and forth until it was finished up by Cooper.

You scooted closer to him, trying to get as deep into his side as you could. He lifted his arm until you were comfortable, then he put his arm down around you, his hand resting on your shoulder.

”I haven’t been able to stop thinking about killing her all day, Cooper.” You murmured.

“Oh, yeah?”

”I want to take her head to her father.”

He looked down at you, unsure if what he had heard was what you said.

”He shouldn’t get to have a family. No one at Vault-Tec should.”

”You’re gonna get yourself all worked up, doll. Best not go down that rabbit hole tonight.”

You took a deep breath, reaching your hand up to hold on to his fingers.

”I don’t want to feel that way, Coop. I don’t want to hurt her.”

”Hush now.” Cooper leaned down to kiss your head. “Get some sleep, Icy Mae.”

[sokkastyles]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well. Thank you for the response to the previous query regarding Aang.

Back to the Southern Raiders, I didn't think much about it, but I am a bit confused on two things.

First, do you think that Aang should have entered the conversation between Sokka and Katara regarding Katara going after Yon Rah, because it is their personal matter, and like you had said in a previous post that it had been ongoing for a while.

Second, why did Sokka side with Aang? That part made no sense. If Sokka was worried about Katara's safety then that's understandable, but it makes no sense for him to say that Aang is right.

I would like your thoughts on this.

On your first point, it's not so much Aang entering the conversation between Katara and Sokka, because Aang started the conversation. It's Sokka who enters the conversation and turns it around towards his ongoing conflict with Katara, which is why it is less about Sokka agreeing with Aang (when we know he fundamentally doesn't agree with Aang's stance, on either forgiveness or revenge or killing), and more about how he and Katara never resolved their trauma over losing their mother and their conflict over having different responses to it. Sokka agrees with Aang not because he thinks Aang is right, but because it scares him to see Katara angry and vengeful instead of accepting her role as the replacement mother figure. It forces him to consider not only how Katara has been harmed by being forced to take up that role, but how he has benefitted from it. And I'm not saying this to disparage Sokka, but Sokka would have looked better as a character if the narrative had actually acknowledged this and let Sokka talk to his sister about it, and let Katara help Sokka see that she is still the same caring person even when she is angry and hurt, and let Sokka help Katara see that he loves her both for her nurturing side and the ways she has acted as a mother to him, and for her righteous strength in the face of injustice.

I think it's really out of character that Sokka never wanted to confront Yon Rah or even ask his sister how the confrontation went. Sokka, who sees himself as the protector. Usually the explanation I see for this is that Sokka doesn't have the same guilt over Kya's death, but Sokka is fiercely protective of Katara, and of his tribe in general. You can't tell me he wasn't at least curious to know how the confrontation went. You can't tell me he wasn't scared out of his mind that Yon Rah might finish the job he set out to do the first time he came to their village to murder the last waterbender.

Sokka's hands-off approach to the whole thing is so out of character and the only voice he gets in an episode about the murder of his people and his family is to call Aang wise to insist that forgiveness for unrepentant murderers is the only moral course of action.

[theflowerofthecommonwealth]

hey idk if you're still doing asks, if not feel dream to ignore this, but how would fo4 companions react to Sole mid combat saying "this bitch empty yeet" and throwing their empty gun at a raider hitting them right in the face

Yup. Still doing reacts! Just a little slowly!! I know I just posted a react and I like to space them out, but imma gonna release this one early for you!!! 💖💖💖

Sole was in the middle of an intense battle with her companion. As she was mowing down raiders one by one, she realized that she had run out of ammo right as a burly raider was charging at them. Rather than reload her gun or pull out another weapon, she instead shouted “This bitch is empty, YEET!” And hurled it light speed at said raider. They stopped and stumbled back, hands over their face with a shout.

Nick Valentine: “Right. Because that was very effective, give them a good enough headache to send them out.” Finishes off the raider with his revolver. “Did you play those carnival games with the pins and baseballs often before the war Kid? Or was this just lady lucks doing?”

Piper Wright: “Oh wow, geez Blue. Nice shot but uh, what did that do to help in the long run?” Finishes the raider off with her own gun. “Maybe try something else next time? Something more effective.”

Codsworth: “Oh, well. That’s sure one way to do it I suppose…” Buzzsaws and burns the raider to death. “But Mum, you might want to take some rest before we go on. That certainly didn’t seem like a good move on your part.”

Preston Garvey: “General? Oh wow, good shot there, in a way…” Shoots down the raider and looks between the two. “Not the bestest idea you’ve had yet. That precise aim however, could be used in other ways.”

Curie: “Did you mean to do that Madame? You hit them right in the face but it had very little effect other than a bloody nose.” Points at the raider before shooting them with her pistol. “Are you feeling alright? Maybe we can take a break until you are feeling better?”

Cait: “What the hell? Why don’t ya just reload the blasted gun?” Charges at the raider with her bat swinging, hitting until they stop moving. “Unless you did that so I could have all the fun, you might want to improve your battle methods.”

Deacon: “Great work there David, you really took out Goliath with one stone.” Shoots the tumbling raider in the head. “Think you can pull that off again later? Just not while we are on the brink of death, that is. Otherwise it’s a sweet trick we can put to use.”

Danse: “Solider!?” Guns down the raider, whirling around to face Sole. “Why did you that? That was tactically ineffective and irresponsible. Next time, try reloading your weapon or switching to hand to hand instead of resorting to… that.” (He’s just jealous Sole has such a good throwing aim)

Hancock: “Haha, nice aim you got there!” Dives forwards to finish off the raider by shanking them. “No tactical judgment from me sister, as long as you don't get yourself or me killed in the end.”

MacCready: “Oh yeah Boss, that was much better then reloading the damn gun…” Quickly shoots the raider while they stumble back. “But I have to admit, that was a pretty sweet hit. Could make some extra caps with an aim like that.”

X6: Blinks, looking between Sole and the raider. “Ma'am, I do not see how that was more effective then simply reloading your gun.” Draws out his pistol and finishes the raider off. “Maybe you need a rest before we continue on our mission.”

Strong: Smashes the raider to bits. “Stupid human! Why do that when it only hurt them a little bit? Why not shoot or smash the puny raider? BE BETTER HUMAN!!” Storms off in pure disappointment.

Dogmeat: “Wooof!!” Runs up and bites the raider, dragging them to the ground before snapping their neck. “Bork?” Obediently picks up Soles gun and brings it back to her with confused puppy eyes, wondering why she didn’t just shoot the raider.

Moral Of The Story: Sometimes you realize your the only one with brain cells in your friend group when they do something stupid, other times you all collectively share one. (Unless you don’t have friends, then your on your own bro)

[jaylikesrainbowtigers]

What would the Gaang’s Daemons be?

This is based off of His Dark Materials and what each of the Gaang’s daemons would be. This was a surprisingly difficult task because I obsessed over it for like a week.

Aang: Feathertail Glider

Aang’s daemon wouldn’t settle until the very end of the series when he has completed his task to defeat Ozai and stands by his morals. As such, shortly after Aang’s daemon would settle. Before this I could see her taking forms like birds or lemurs so she could fly around. I can’t think of a suitable name but something sweet like Peach or something to do with air as a whole.

But I think that she would settle as a feathertail glider because these little guys are the extroverts who hate confrontation. They tend to be quite energetic yet value others over themselves most of the time. Also the big eyes and ears combined with their tiny size reminds me of Aang. Also they can fly. The idea of another little flying thing following Aang around is adorable. Strangers would be so confused on whether Momo or the glider is Aang’s daemon. Or even Appa?? Like who knows. Not them.

Katara: Snow Goose

Despite others opinions that Katara’s daemon would settle after her mother died, I don’t think that he would. I think we would have to wait until the Southern Raiders episode as the experience of Katara not taking revenge is a pivotal one for her character. Before then I think her daemon would mainly assume the form of a sea otter or a penguin. I actually considered a sea otter as her settled form but something felt off about it. I like the traditional Inuit name Aput for Katara’s daemon as it means “snow”. It feels right to me.

As for why I chose a Snow Goose. The key characteristic surrounding this form are loyalty, dedication, ambition, outspokenness, being a team player, and a more extroverted personality. Katara shows great ambition and her ability to be outspoken when she faces the Northern Water Tribes sexist ideas and convinces Pakku to teach her. Other secondary traits that fit Katara to this form are her protective nature, her desire to help others, her stubbornness, and her ability to empathise with others. The fact that this creature lives in the Artic also shows her pride for her heritage.

Sokka: Common Raven

Sokka’s daemon certainly does not settle in the form he desires. What he really wants is to emulate his hero, his dad, with a wolf daemon. So in Season 1 we see his daemon take the form of a wolf often. However, when he fights as the planner or the inventor (when he works best) his daemon could take another form as a foreshadowing. His daemon would probably settle in the first few episodes of Season 2 as the loss of Yue settles in. I like the name Ila for Sokka’s daemon. It means “friend” or “companion” which I think Sokka’s daemon would mainly be for him.

Whilst Sokka could certainly fit into a wolf form, I think that a raven suits him better. Ravens have a strong sense of social hierarchy which suits Sokka’s desire to act as a leader for the Gaang. They are also opportunistic, adaptable, innovative, expressive, planners, bold, occasionally suspicious, affectionate, and witty. Sokka’s role in the group ranges from the meat and sarcasm guy to the planner so a versatile form was a must for me. The symmetry between Katara and Sokka both settling is birds is just a nice circle.

Toph: Wolverine

Toph’s daemon would either settle straight after she left her parents or not at all in the series. There is no in-between. The only two options for me. Whilst she was with her parents her daemon would often be a mole as a small tribute to the badger-moles who taught her Earth bending. As the Blind Bandit, he would take the form of something ridiculously large for the lols, like a rhino. Other fun forms for Toph would be a bat or a badger. I like the name Bao for him. It means “treasure” and I think Toph’s parents would name a daemon to fit their family vibe.

I had a lot of trouble picking a daemon for Toph. Mainly because all the animals I thought of were not aggressive and avoided conflict. But do you know what animal doesn’t avoid conflict. A wolverine! Traits connected to this form are independence, aggression, a hardy attitude, confidence, loyalty (though they are very socially selective with their friends), and a slightly playful personality. I think that this fits Toph’s no nonsense/ let’s kick some ass whilst playfully insulting my friends attitude.

Zuko: Yellow-Throated Marten

I think that Zuko’s daemon wouldn’t settle for ages. However, after his banishment he and Akira (seems like a good name for her) faked a settle as a lion? Or a bird of prey? Something that Ozai would approve of. Only Iroh knows that Zuko hadn’t settled as he walked in on Akira trying to comfort Zuko in a different form. Aang found out as Akira turned into a beetle during the Blue Spirit episode whilst Zhao only became suspicious. Akira turned into a seal so Zuko could break into the Northern Water Tribe.

In season two, Akira turned into a type of cat to travel incognito in the Earth Kingdom. So in the abandoned town the rest of the Gaang found out that Akira was unsettled.

In early season three, Akira presented as a snake, a python of sorts, within the palace. But her eventual settlement happened when Zuko was on his Airship going to find the Gaang. It was very much a bittersweet moment as Zuko finally felt fully confident in his choice but he was also leaving the last remains of his childhood behind.

But I think if you rewrote the series to have daemons Zuko would probably get an earlier redemption arc as he has a physical manifestation of his soul to talk to in order to work out his feelings. He may have even joined the Gaang at Ba Sing Se.

The reason for my choice of a Yellow-Throated Marten is their guts. Like these small things actively hunt deer and their favourite move is to grab their prey by the neck and flipping them onto the ground. That feels very Zuko. They tend to keep in groups of two or three which remind me of Zuko and Iroh. They have a angry outside but a slightly awkward and kinda sweet inside. Like Zuko. Plus the yellow on them makes me think of Zuko’s eyes. Zuko and Akira cuddles pleases me because she is a fluffy-ish animal.

Suki: Fennec Fox

She would be the only member of the Gaang who we would meet after her daemon settled because Suki is a fairly flat character in terms of her character arc. She already is confident in her role in life and her morals. She doesn’t have to overcome any significant challenges which could cause a settlement to be delayed. We probably wouldn’t learn her daemons name until season 3 when she stays in the show for more than a episode at a time. I’m thinking something common like Liu or Huang.

Fennec Fox Daemons tend to be social, hard-working individuals who are very tough. They also tend to have a good sense of humour and have a higher level of tact than other canine based daemons. These are traits that I see in Suki. Also the balance of Sokka who longs for a canine daemon meeting Suki who has a smaller canine daemon who then beats respect women and all daemon types equally into him. It adds to the plot. Trust me.

If anyone has any ideas for names or other daemon forms for any of the Gaang (or any other ATLA characters) please comment below.

[nukavolkov]

From the Fallout OC Questionnaire ~ I've just met em so I gotta know: 4. Give us a summary of their backstory. and 19. What natural alignment are they? (ex. Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil) For both your beans, please!

Oooh this will be a long one! I am still working on refining Beau so this won't be entirely set in stone for her.

Donovan would be considered Chaotic Neutral I'd say and as for his backstory. Im going to sum it up as best I can but theres a lot lol:

Donnie was born in Vault 101 and is younger than the cannon player character. His life wasn't amazing in there. A bit neglected by his parents who treated his younger sister like an absolute perfect blessing. He was a big scapegoat for almost everyone there. Getting the blame for so many things. It was east with how quite and awkward he was. He never really fought back. There were people who were on his side but the ones who weren't felt louder to him. He had particular disdain for Butch and the cannon PC. James and kid left the vault when Donovan was 15 and in the chaos he snuck out behind them. Looking for a better life than the one he had.

Immidiate regret on that. He found the Wasteland terrifying, hostile and cruel but he managed to make a few friends in Megaton and beyond. One being Moira as they worked on the Wasteland Survival Guide. Things were hard at first. He was afraid of everything, not very strong, lost a couple fingers and struggled a lot. But as time went on, he got stronger, taller and harder to kill abd developed a wild amount of skill with almost any gun he got his hands on. He was still afraid but he had more control. He also made some mistakes. And the cannon PC also got into some absolute bullshit that he pinned on Donovan. Being blamed for both their wrong doings earned him a real bad reputation in the Capital Wasteland. While he wasnt the most moral person around he wasnt full on evil either. He does genuinely care about people. But being labeled brutal, a monster, vicious. Every word they could come up with left him feeling bitter and as hostile to them as they were to him. His general demeanor, general expression and awkwardness didn't help at all. Just made it worse really. He's hard to read and comes across as rude without meaning to.

So he left the Capital Wastes at 34 with his reputation in unsalvageable shambles and made for the Commonwealth after Maccready (one of his few friends). He met Beau in Nuka World on his way there. Helped her clear out the Raiders then followed her to Sanctuary and eventually Diamond City where he settled nearby, got back to mercenary work and earned a far better reputation with friends to boot.

Now as for Beau. I'd consider her to be Neutral Good I think. As for her story. It's still a WIP but here's what I have so far:

Beau was and is a robotics and power armour enthusiast. Even before the war. She always loves tinkering, building and just making the coolest stuff she could. When she met Nate she was happy to settle down though she was plotting out where she could fit a workshop in their home and saving up to get her own Power Armour frame. She was happy to have Shaun and nestle in in Sanctuary until the bombs.

She hadn't trusted the Vault Tec lads from the beginning but didn't see much of a choice. When she woke to a dead husband and missing baby after being frozen, she didn't know what to do. She was scared, alone and confused. But after a couple aimless days she found her resolve. She moved out, helped Preston and reformed the Minute Men. Vowing to wear a suit of power armour with pride and protect everyone she could. Making the Commonwealth safe for her baby when she found him.

This is all I have so far but I'll give her more as time goes on 👍

[themoralgoats]

W. what happened in the moral orel discord ........

Ok for a little anonymity (and to lighten things up for myself) I’m referring to everyone involved other than myself as Moral Orel characters and said characters’ pronouns. Insanely detailed explanation below

For context of what you’re about to read, I’d like to mention that

“Dottie” and “Agnes” stan Clay, like Danielle, hate Bloberta, make these things very clear (like the way they are about it could peeve someone who doesn’t necessarily disagree with them on those feelings) and as you might guess have been what’s been on my mind during multiple posts here complaining about clay stans.

This server was taken off Disboard and had invites turned off due to constant raiders in every public Moral Orel server. They’ve stopped but the owner of the server officially vanished off the internet beforehand. This helped kill the server notably, which probably contributed to the length of the following drama. At the moment any member is allowed to get invites to give friends, and as of today it would be back on disboard (and probably open) if we were technically able to.

Ok so Reverend Putty suggested for defenders of Danielle (the character; to avoid confusion I’m not nicknaming anyone after him, Clay, Shapey, Orel, or Bloberta) that Danielle “did everyone wrong”. Dottie replied saying that he did that “and slayed”. Agnes agreed saying he’s hot too, and the two had a back and forth about how cool Danielle is.

The next day Reverend responded to Agnes saying that he’s not that great, especially compared to a certain background character that’s somewhat of a meme in the server. Agnes said said character is an overhyped background character with no lore, unlike Danielle who does and is also attractive, blond, queer, and mustached with the latter statement having a lot of emojis. She and Dottie had another, shorter back-and-forth of agreement about how Danielle is awesome and the bg character sucks.

Five days later Joe replied to Putty’s message with (and I quote) “L opinion argue wit ya grammy + Danielle did nun wrong in my eyesight 😍 😍 🤭 🤭”.

A day or two later (aka yesterday at the time of me writing this) Reverend Putty responded to Joe by saying he must be blind to not notice him manipulating Bloberta, Clay and Orel on top of every other shitty thing he’s done. Agnes replied with a gif with an L + ratio caption and Dottie said Bloberta deserved it. Agnes and Dottie had their third described back and forth about how blobs sucks, particularly in that she cheated on Clay and forced him into marriage. Reverend Putty said he still stands by his statement that the background character is superior to Danielle and that all the latter’s “lore” revolves around his relationship with Clay.

I argued (on Reverend’s side) that by the logic that what Danielle did is ok because Bloberta “deserves” it, Clay also “deserved” to be manipulated by him and since he still manipulated Orel, pretends Shapey (his son) does not exist, and set the Figurellis’ house on fire, Danielle “deserves” to be labeled inferior to the “godly” (my quote) background character. Agnes and Dottie had their fourth and final recorded here obnoxious back and forth. I was having an incredibly bad day and am an insecure pussy in general so I didn’t get exactly what they said, but I do know they were being assholes and at the end genuinely suggested the fans of the background character (who, I reiterate, is little more than a meme to most of us “fans” of him) wanted to seem 🤩unique🤩.

A mod I’m naming after censordoll came in a while later (a few hours into the next day in my timezone) telling people calm down and be nice. Florence came in and said that she loves Danielle but he sucks and then listed some shitty things he did, and concluded you can love a character and acknowledge they suck. Dottie came back saying it’s true after someone responded to her comment about bloberta forcing him into marriage with “erm”. Censordoll then reiterated that Dottie was being an asshole about it and the way she voiced her opinions could be interpreted as ruse, partly thanks to a concerned message she got. Agnes turned it into what Dottie was suggesting about them once again supposedly getting attacked and censored for voicing an opinion and (her own idea) that the mods were gatekeeping the server. Censordoll said she’s the only active mod and she doesn’t know how to put things on disboard. Cue some arguing between Censordoll and Agnes. Florence called Agnes out for twisting the story and Dottie for again claiming people are getting angry at her for just expressing opinions on characters. Some Danielle Morality and General Character Discussion later things have finally calmed down.

A few hours later (this afternoon in my timezone) people get their last arguments out and Censordoll announces a warning system and there was a bit of discussion about someone else hopefully gaining ownership of the server. That’s all for now and I hope for the next few months.

[snipper-snap]

Her names Spike and she was named after a dog (its not a good idea to go asking about it either)

[claudeng80]

The Mountain Lion’s Daughter

@yumi-cha​ it’s been so long you probably forgot you even sent this -

But I got there eventually!

*

This war will never end. Zen will grow old here, dumping the same rocks out of his boots, getting dripped on by the same trees, and watching the same muddy trails, day in and day out, forever. The king of Tanbarun will keep sending his smugglers and raiders up into the mountains until Izana convinces him to stop.

And as much as he loves his brother, as much faith as he has in him, it all seems awfully far away right now.

Not that it stops him from daydreaming. If Tanbarun surrendered tomorrow, he’d go somewhere warm and not budge again until Izana sent letters begging him to come back to Wistal. He’s heard that Yuris has sandy beaches, not a muddy rock or an evergreen tree on the whole island. None of this misty white sky where you’re squinting at everything but can’t even tell what time of day it is.

“Dreaming about the sun again?” Mitsuhide moves too quietly for someone his size, and it’s not fair to Zen or his horse. She sidles, confused by Zen’s startlement, and if they were any closer to the ledge they could have both died right then and there. Mitsuhide just smiles like Zen’s heart isn’t pounding at a gallop.

“You must miss Kiki, you’re starting to sound like her.” As comebacks go, it’s weak, but the waspish tone of his voice probably makes the point better than any words. He won’t say it, but he misses her too- there’s nobody he trusts more to hold down his office back at Wistal and manage supplies, but losing her has been a real blow to morale. Nobody wants to disappoint Kiki, and somehow even the camp smelled better when she was around. It’s both mysterious and frustrating.

What they really need, what would actually help, is a victory. Izana’s letters urge patience and insist he hold the line. Hold the line, hold the line, while the Mountain Lion’s men strike and fade like smoke, wearing them away at the edges, cutting new impenetrable trails through the woods, and turning the villages against them one by one. Clarines can outlast Tanbarun’s will, surely, but Zen worries about what will be left in the end.

Mitsuhide’s sword rasps from its sheath just as they hear the rustling of leaves. Zen grabs at his own hilt - it would not be the first time they’d been attacked from the trees- but the lanky figure that drops from the branches attempts something vaguely resembling a salute and he recognizes one of Haruka’s “scouts.”

He barely looks human, all draped in shifting shades of brown like a leaf-pile gone walking, but Haruka swears that’s what makes his spies so effective. “The Mountain Lion is good, so we have to be better,” Haruka’s said more than once. That means that no matter how odd this man’s clothing, how strange his sharp teeth and cat eyes, he must know his business.

“You have a message?” Mitsuhide looks no more pleased than Zen is; he too was trained for a nice clean war, not this forest skulking, and he makes even less effort to befriend Haruka’s irregulars.

As though the sloppy salute was his due diligence and he’s done with manners now, he doesn’t bother with any further niceties, just swaggers to the dropoff. Craning his body out into empty space, he points downslope at some landmark that only he can distinguish. “Found a camp, down by the waterfall. Light guard, some supplies- looks like food. Lend me a team and we can take it.” His eyes glow, and there’s no telling whether it’s the prospect of battle or a good meal that excites him so.

Zen can’t judge, when both options sound just as appealing. It’s been months of grabbing at smoke without so much as a glimpse of the Mountain Lion. A chance at his supply lines is more than Zen could have asked for, and a chance at something to eat that’s not mystery meat stew and hardtack? He is not about to let that get away.

He nods to Mitsuhide. “One unit, knights or foot, whoever you can round up first.”

“Preferably ones who sound like something smaller than a moose in the woods,” adds the scout.

Zen bares his teeth at the insult, but wrestles his features back to something in the vicinity of neutral when the man meets his eye and winks. Haruka’s irregulars are- idiosyncratic. They aren’t knights, aren’t guard- some insubordination is to be expected. He can endure it.

*

It’s a good thing Mitsuhide returns with foot soldiers, because they have to leave the horses less than five minutes down the trail. They clamber over rocks, splash through the stream, and squeeze between tree trunks the size of the council table back at Wistal. Zen’s revised his opinion about this Obi they’re following; he’s not just insubordinate, he’s a cat.

But apparently he’s a competent one. He turns back with a finger over his lips, beckoning Zen forward to peer over the edge of a boulder. Down below, in a sheltered spot, a handful of Tanbarunians bustle around a small cache of supplies. There are bundles of fresh arrows, exciting enough on their own, but Zen’s mouth waters at the bags of hams stacked against the rocks. “Fresh meat,” he whispers, and Obi’s grin stretches wide. Or at least cured, rather than salted and dried- 

A tall pale-haired man stares out into the forest, shifting from time to time to encompass every part of it in his view. “The leader?” Zen whispers.

“Nah,” answers Obi. Back against the rock wall, a small figure is kneeling at the feet of a fighter dressed in shifting browns. The man winces as a bandage is pulled tight against his ankle, and Zen doesn’t have to hear their voices to realize they’ve interrupted a medic at work. He thinks for a moment that the medic’s scarlet headscarf is a dangerous choice for the deep forest, until he realizes what he’s seeing.

The medic stands, stretching her back, and then pushes loose apple-red hair back from her face with a huff. She carries no weapon that Zen can see, wears no insignia of rank- “Her,” says Obi. “She’s the one in charge.”

*

They may be few in number, but like all of the Mountain Lion’s people, they don’t go down easily. Shouts and curses send birds winging into the sky at the disturbance - it’s not their quietest conquest by a long shot, but at least it does end in victory. Obi sits on the tall pale man, crusted blood on his lip where he took an elbow in the fight. 

Mitsuhide’s tying up the injured fighter, who managed to do his part without ever getting up from his rock. His throwing knives forced the attackers down into the underbrush- if Zen had been just a second slower, Mitsuhide could have been writing a very painful letter back to Izana tonight. As it is, his face is all scrapes, there are leaves down his shirt, and the slice on his arm throbs like a far more serious wound. At least Kiki’s not there to make fun of him for getting himself banged up on an unauthorized expedition.

There’s, thankfully, no casualties at all. He joins the others in the clearing, rubbing at one of the scratches on his cheek and hoping he hasn’t just discovered a new allergy, but before he can decide whether to interrogate prisoners first or send half his unit back to base with the supplies, the redheaded medic plants herself in his path.

She’s tiny, up close, half a head shorter than him and fine-boned. He’s not sure whether to appreciate the fact that nobody has bothered to tie her up or to call it negligence, but at least she’s not trying to get away. Her hands are planted on her hips and, even with the forbidding scowl on her face, she’s lovely.

“Who do you think you are?” Her eyes are green, blazing with righteous fury. Her Tanbarun accent is cute. “You are interfering with my patient.”

“You are trespassing in Clarines’ lands,” Zen snaps back. Does she not know they’re at war? “You are now prisoners of the Crown.”

Oddly, that seems to be a relief for her. “You’re not bandits.”

Zen looks down at himself. The useless gold buckles and tassels of his royal trappings have long since been shipped back to Wistal, replaced with the practical outfit of a country knight on patrol. Still, the misconception rankles. “Do we look like bandits?”

She looks him over carefully, possibly for the first time, and Zen’s heart flutters as her gaze lingers along the way. This isn’t the time for that- or the person- but it’s nice nonetheless. “I suppose not.” Her lips curve in a devilish smile. “But by the same token, do we look like combatants? This is a medical station, and you’re treating us like we attacked you.”

“Tell your friend here he’s not a combatant,” calls out Obi, whose hearing is apparently too sharp. The pale-haired man bucks beneath him and he just pulls the cord tighter, as though his prisoner were an unruly horse.

Her lips press together and her eyes narrow as she ignores Obi entirely. “What happens next, then? Are you going to kill us? And if not, may I pack up my supplies?”

“Do I have your parole that you will not attempt to escape?” Not that she’d be able to make it far, with that red hair and without any supplies, but if Obi doesn’t want to have to sit on the big guy for the next couple of hours, they need some modicum of cooperation. By the way her eyes flicker across her companions and her brow furrows, she knows it.

It’s the only reasonable choice he’s left her, but no queen could deliver an answer more poised than she does. “You have my word. Release my men.”

The tall man’s sigh is audible, but at last he stills flat against the ground. Obi raises an eyebrow, Zen nods, and he flows a step away, letting his captive stand. “No harm will come to you, you have my word,” Zen adds, hardly knowing why he says it. It’s not the kind of thing he’s supposed to say, and Mitsuhide’s watching him with the oddest look on his face.

“I suppose the promise of a knight is enough for me,” she says. “You can call me Shirayuki.”

He doesn’t know why he says it - it would have been a perfectly good fiction, but his mouth moves on its own. “I’m not a knight. You can call me Zen.”

Kiki will never let him hear the end of this. It’s not like he was trying to impress her, or at least that wasn’t what he thought he was doing, but still when her eyes shutter his heart sinks into his stomach. The sudden coldness in her face hits him like a blow. “Ah, a noble, then,” she says. “We’ve never found the words of nobles to carry much weight, when given to those without power.”

The urge to plead his case is almost overwhelming - she’s questioning his honor and he doesn’t want to stand for it - but he’s heard stories out of Tanbarun. She may be justified, to date. “I’ll just have to make a better impression, then.”

It’s a weak argument, at best, and even as the sudden hauteur drops from Shirayuki’s face, he knows better than to think it has anything to do with his words. “You’re hurt!”

He looks down, following her gaze. For a moment he’d actually forgotten all about it, but the slice on his arm is now bleeding through what’s left of his sleeve. It stings a lot, in fact, now that he’s paying attention. “I can get it taken care of when we get back to our camp. Do you think your man can walk, now?”

She looks at her patient, then at the slope they came crashing down to capture the camp. “Hm,” she says, then turns her attention back to him. “Don’t be silly, I can treat it right here.”

Her hand beckons with authority, and the forming scab on Zen’s arm pulls as he reaches it out. A new line of blood wells up beneath the old, but Zen’s attention pinpoints on the way her hand cradles his wrist. He shouldn’t trust an enemy, he knows, but-

“I won’t poison you, I promise,” she murmurs, for his ears only, and when his hand twitches against hers there’s a hint of a smile on her face. She continues, louder this time. “This doesn’t need stitching, but I’ve got a salve that will help avoid infection and keep it from scarring.”

Obi, cleaning knives like he doesn’t have a care in the world, doesn’t look up, but Mitsuhide’s face is a mask of concern. But Zen nods, and Shirayuki pulls a little glass jar from one of the endless pockets in her bag. The smell, when she opens the lid and scoops out a fingerful, tickles Zen’s nose. It doesn’t smell like any of Garrack’s.

With that edge of a smile still on her lips, Shirayuki rubs the dose of salve on her own skin, across what looks like a scrape. “See? Perfectly safe.” Her fingers reach out, and when he doesn’t object, she smears it over his own wound. It tingles. “Safe enough for even a prince,” she adds.

“Ah-” This stings even more than her words about nobles. “You know.”

Her laugh bubbles like the river behind them, as she wraps a bandage snug around his forearm. “I figured it out. It might have been harder if you didn’t tell your name to strange captives in the forest. And don’t worry, I already think better of you than the last prince I met.”

He wouldn’t have expected royal contacts of a minor officer on this remote front, but it does rather square with what he’s heard of the royal family of Tanbarun. They’re not well known for dependability. Or common sense. Sense of any kind, really. “I’ll have to try harder, then.”

“You could let us go.” Her smile is sly, the look of someone who knows better but has to ask anyway. Somehow it makes him part of the joke, instead of the villain he feels he probably should be.

It makes him want to play along. “How are we supposed to make the Mountain Lion respect us if we hand his invaders right back to keep fighting?”

“Hah, it depends on what kind of respect you want. I’d stop this war if I could. My f-” Her face has gone white when Zen looks down to see the problem. She’s not looking, instead rolling an unused bandage back into her bag. A lock of red hair falls loose along her cheek. Red, brighter even than the description every spy has given of the Mountain Lion.

The Mountain Lion’s daughter would be a valuable hostage indeed.

“Hey boss, you can flirt when we get back to headquarters! Somebody’s going to notice them missing, and I’d rather not get caught, myself.” The cat has no manners, but he’s not wrong.

“Let’s get moving.” Her forehead wrinkles, confused by his lack of acknowledgment. He knows who she is and she knows he knows. But there’s something special about her, he can already tell. If anyone is going to end this war, it’s going to take getting the two sides to talk. One way or another, maybe she will be the key.

The chance to spend more time with her is entirely beside the point. “That’s what I want too. What my brother wants.” He holds out his hand, the cut now reduced to throbbing numbly. She’s stubborn, to get even an enemy to let her bind his wounds. He can only hope she has as much drive to change the world. “This war needs to end. Come with me, and let’s end it.”

@zenyuki-festival-2021​

[catie-does-things]

I can't fully commit to shipping Zutara, but your meta has definitely changed my tune on Zutara vs Kataang. Out of genuine curiosity however, say you were on the writing team and had to go along with making kataang canon, what would you have done to help rewrite the ship to make it better (I know you say that Katara doesn't get much out of their relationship, so what would she get out of the relationship?) (You can point me to a fic if that you've written about this already elsewhere).

To be honest, if I really could change anything at all, the very first thing I would do would probably be to make Aang and Katara the same age - either by making Aang older or Katara younger, but preferably the former. 12 and 14 is just an extremely awkward gap in maturity. I suppose if you wanted to keep the age difference but bump them both up a year or two that could also solve this problem. Or make them both 13. Whatever.

But more than just their actual ages, they would need to be written as emotional equals. When Katara mentions her mother’s death in The Southern Air Temple, for example, Aang should take more notice of this and make an explicit show of sympathy, rather than being solely focused on his own hopes for what he’ll find at the air temple the way he is in the actual episode. There are tons of opportunities for little tweaks like this throughout the show, and it wouldn’t have to be done every single time, but basically we would need to see Aang expressing understanding and emotional support for Katara in the same way she does for him.

To look at one more example, in The Serpent’s Pass, we see Aang still struggling with losing Appa and emotionally withdrawing from the rest of the group because of it. Katara notices this and is concerned about him, especially when Aang rejects her attempts to comfort him. This is resolved following the birth of the refugee couple’s baby, after which Aang says:

I thought I was trying to be strong. But really I was just running away from my feelings. Seeing this family together, so full of happiness and love, it's reminded me how I feel about Appa ... and how I feel about you.

And then they hug it out. It’s a sweet scene. But it’s all about Aang and Aang’s feelings, and it didn’t have to be that way. Aang could have also said something to the effect that he realized the strain his emotional distance put on Katara, and that it was unfair to her. This would have validated Katara’s feelings as well as his own, and shifted the focus away from being only about him.

Of course, if you’ve read my meta on The Southern Raiders, I talked a lot in that post about how Aang’s attempts to offer Katara moral guidance and emotional support in this episode came off as really immature and ineffective. This episode would probably need the most in-depth re-write to “fix Kataang”, but off the top of my head some things I’d change: Get rid of Aang’s initially dismissive attitude towards Katara’s desire to confront her mother’s killer, make his attempt at empathy focus more on the genocide of the Air Nomads and less on losing Appa, cut the false equivocation between Katara and Jet, have Aang present the concept of forgiveness in more nuanced terms, and maybe even have Aang go with Katara and Zuko to create more opportunities for him to offer her the emotional support that, in the episode as is, she’s only getting from Zuko.

And then I did briefly suggest a tweak to The Ember Island Players in this meta post. Basically, use the concept of the characters reviewing their past adventures to push Katara closer to realizing her own feelings for Aang - though she can still have reservations about the timing - instead of making her seem more confused than ever. And yeah, if we want this to be a fairly straightforward romance arc where they can just kiss at the end of the finale and that’s a satisfying resolution, then we should cut the entire balcony scene between Aang and Katara in this episode so as not to complicate things unnecessarily.

(If we do keep the balcony scene, then we need to make room for a follow up on it at some point where Aang apologizes for not respecting Katara’s boundaries.)

I could list a bunch of other little things I’d change (for example, in The Fortune Teller, have Katara make the connection that Aang is a powerful bender on her own, rather than because Sokka points it out), but none of them individually would make or break the ship. The general guiding principle is that Katara’s feelings need to be given the same narrative weight as Aang’s, which means they need to be more upfront, and Aang needs to be more supportive overall.

That is of course a lot of changes. If I had to “fix Kataang” by making just one change, it would probably be to cut the problematic scene in The Ember Island Players, which would still leave us with a one-sided narrative of the relationship, but at least one that didn’t undermine itself at the eleventh hour for no reason. In my personal opinion, however, while either approach to “Kataang done right” would be better than what we got, both would still fall short of the narrative strength and dramatic impact of Zuko and Katara’s relationship exactly as it was in canon, so there would still probably be a huge number of Zutara shippers.

[stabletwooriginals]

CHAPTER FOUR: Perspective

LittlePip had the bright idea of looting a building she is way too underleveled for. That's not really a Gamer Joke, as FoE really does seem to take a lot of rules and mechanics from the Fallout games. But it's also funny.

Her opponents are the classic brain-bots we know from the games, made more horrifying with the simple detail of sounding like children. "Come on out. We only want to kill you for trespassing!" also reminds me of the turrets in Portal.

This is also where we get our first reference of the zebras as the enemy, via the intercom playing an ancient, automated message. Oh, and the first mention of the Minstry of Technology too!

The Mr. Handy equivalent of a plasma weapon is said to look like a unicorn's horn. That's cool.

While trying to escape on collapsing catwalks we get the first instance of self-levitation! That's a creative use of the canonical ability unicorns in the show possess. I'm not even sure if a unicorn levitaed *another* pony in season 1. But I think they never levitated themselves? This also gave me flashbacks (or rather flashforwards) to all the cool stuff LittlePip can do later with her levitation, I'm excited to get there.

 Oh fuck me with Celestia's forehooves!

The first instance of a PipSwear! Now, I love them. They are iconic. But heck, gosh, darn it if they don't sound awkward when said out loud. Which kinda makes them not work as swears, in my opinion. But for me, they are dumb fun and sometimes that's enough. Her remark that she picked these exploitives up from the raiders is a nice touch. That she keeps them up and builds on them is all her, though.

IRONSHOD FIREARMS How do you like *them* apples?   I didn't get it.

So, I am not a native English speaker. I know this saying, but I was curious where it comes from. *Apparently* that's not really known, but according to this article the phrase was used like this in 1895 already. However, it was also used to refer to anti-tank granades in World War I, for their apple-like appearence. Since granades also look like apples in FoE, I will take the risk and say that I think I do get Ironshod Firearms' slogan.

The anti zebra propaganda found in the factory overmare office is both creative and glossed over. The slogan ("Better Wiped than Striped! Join the Equestrian Forces Today!") is heavily reminicient of the German rhymes of similiar racist nature from the world wars. And the depiction of the zebras as some dark creatures with evil glowing eyes is over the top, but only a reread might reveal this as the neon sign it is, as the zebras have not yet been introduced as the enemy force properly.

In the overmares office Littlepip finds a ton of useful items, from spark batteries , a StealthBuck and gum (which could be the first instance of MintAls, altough not called such, as LittlePip doesn’t know them yet (and if they aren’t, she finds some later in this chapter in an abandoned camp under a bridge), to the one, the only: little macintosh. This revolver will become LittlePips iconic weapon that she keeps until the very end of the story. Presumably made for or at least by Applejack, so this also gives Littlepip a neat little tie to one of the original shows main characters.

Hacking the terminal LittlePip discovers that she could have opened the safe she picked with a bobby pin remotely from there. Intentionally or not, this is a dig at Fallout 3′s design philosophy of giving you several ways to open locks, making only learning one of them enough, while skilled characters are left feeling a bit overqualified.

Leaving Ironshod Firearms, LittlePip admits to having given up on finding Velvet for now and being set on just exploring the world instead. Again, very Fallout 3 in my book.

Past a playground that became a graveyard for little ponies (dark!), she finds a “Sparkle~Cola” vending machine. This becomes LittlePips favorite drink and when I first read it, I was super happy about that for some reason. The book keeps mentioning how she sipps on carroty cola sometimes and every time I remember thinking it was a fun detail. I have no idea why.

Resting on a bench closeby we get a description of this poster:

(Art by Droakir - DeviantArt)

First mention of the Ministry of Morale, first instance of Pinkie Pie and a really fun description of how her graying mane makes it look like a candy cane. Like the poster on the zebras, this is also great, classic propaganda writing. Obviously it is a reference to the episode Green Isn’t Your Color, but while I feel that it is referencing some real life propaganda, I do not know a specific one.

Watcher suddenly is back, helpfully explaining that the MoM is “another well-meaning idea that was so much better on scroll.” What a fitting description of pre-war politics in FoE.

Getting jumped makes LittlePip call back to the slaver, that complained about sprite-bots sneaking up on ponies. If I recall correctly this will be one of the biggest sources of fun in FoE: Callbacks like this, that help paint the world in your mind by connecting the dots for you. Im certain some find this aspect annoying, as they rather enjoy doing that work themselves, but as a casual reader (of a very long story) I always welcomed it. I will also stop pointing them out from here on, unless they strike me remarkable in other ways.

A quick reminder of the raider armor she is wearing and some foreshadowing how it makes her look like “a nightmare pony”, before Watcher offers that she needs to find her virtue. This will be as important as in the original show, but also almost take LittlePip until the end of the story to really figure it out. Right now, she doesn’t quite believe him and his connection to the sprite-bot drops. Now we get a different voice from the radio the sprite-bots play, when Watcher is not in control of them. Similiar to President Eden of the Enclave in Fallout 3. This however, is Red-Eye, altough not named yet, giving a motivational speech about the posibility of rebuilding Equestria. Naturally, this confuses LittlePip even further, having seen no trace of any leaders or reconstruction efforts.

Well, technically she has seen slavers, so, unbeknownst to her, she actually has seen a part of Red-Eyes plan.

But it gives her the idea to look for settlements and actually finds one in the distance. A undamaged looking caravan is moving away from it, all in all a great disovery.

While a fun and memorable scene in itself, what follows is meant to reflect a corner stone of LittlePips character. As she approaches the settlement she gets mistaken for a raider by her barding and shot at. Remembering the caravan she collects her strength and stands up to her agressor, threatening to kill them if they attack the others. This reveals the misunderstanding -- her attacker thought she was endangering the caravan -- and LittlePip exits the chapter loosing consiousness from her insuries.

Footnote: Level Up. New Perk: Egghead -- You will add +2 skill points each time you gain a new experience level.

What a chapter! While it might feel like not much happened, so many pivital and iconic elements were introduced here. Even if a lot weren’t named yet. Like Calamity! It does feel weird that LittlePip just admits on giving up on Velvet like that, though. On my first read I didn’t mind, because I just enjoyed how similiar the experience felt to playing Fallout 3, which I liked more than any other entry at the time. Now it seems odd, but there are a lot of other things to focus on and enjoy in this and the coming chapters.

[homoaquaticus]

rewatching the southern raiders really brings up why avatar works as well as it does

whenever people watch avatar for the first time, it seems like generally they come away with 2 feelings: 1. immensely satisfied, which makes sense, as avatar had specific story to tell, told it, and stopped when it was done

but also: 2. people often feel like it’s odd for avatar to have originally aired one nickelodeon, which is it’s own level of pretentious but bear with me, and question whether or not atla is a “kids show.” and i think that the southern raiders, despite being a “darker” episode of the show, winds up answering that question, with a resounding ‘yes’

the message of the southern raiders is not one about revenge. it’s a message about emotion. at the end of the episode after katara chooses to not take her revenge she claims that she still does not forgive yon rha, and never will. the episode does not truly ask a moral question about whether revenge is good or bad, the message of the episode simply states that sometimes, emotions are more complicated than that. sometimes, you are hurt, and you need to let yourself feel however you truly feel, even if it’s not a simple answer. and most importantly: that’s okay.

kids are not stupid. they know when they are being talked down to, and they know when they are being heard and seen. growing up is confusing, and a lot of kids, especially kids experiencing abuse, growing up lgbt+, or with distant or absent parents, grow up without help in processing these complex emotions and often turn to media to mitigate that

this is an incredibly important message to send to an audience that is beginning to learn that for the first time and is an incredible reminder to adults who need to hear it again. avatar: the last airbender is not good “despite” originally airing on nickelodeon. avatar: the last airbender knew exactly who it was being directed towards, knew exactly what kinds of messages and lessons it wanted to send its audience, and knew exactly what they needed to hear

[sokkastyles]

I can’t believe I just had to read “The Southern Raiders was about Aang, actually” with my own two eyes.

That was an episode about Katara, her grief, her trauma, her relationship with her mother, and her journey to trusting Zuko.

The thing is that the writers COULD have made Aang help Katara with her trauma, they could have made Aang learn about Katara's mother, they could have involved Aang in more of Katara's life than whether or not she would be his girlfriend, but they chose not to. They chose to give those moments to Zuko and then were SHOCKED when people shipped them.

And yeah, they could have also had Aang help Katara learn to trust Zuko or even take an interest in what was going on with them. Like it doesn't worry Aang that his compassionate friend who he supposedly loves is constantly angry and snapping at his other friend, someone everyone else has already welcomed into the group? Wouldn't this have been a good opportunity for Aang to use his mediating skills as the Avatar?

It's also hypocritical that Katara is constantly being the one left behind while Aang goes off to do dangerous heroic stuff, but when Katara wants to go off without Aang, he tries to guilt-trip her about it.

I've mentioned before that Zuko could have pulled some macho hero bs and been like "Katara, you stay here while I go, it's too dangerous" but he doesn't. Nor does he make the journey about himself even though he so dearly wants Katara's forgiveness. He just stands beside her and lets her make the decisions. That's the difference between the claim that Aang influenced her from afar, and Katara's decisions were really Aang's. Providing silent support by being there is so much more meaningful than trying to control how another person should feel.

Zuko also was in a unique position to understand that because he knows what it's like to be confused and hurt and have other people try and tell you what to believe and feel, and to learn to trust your own mind. That's why it makes me so mad when people say that Katara and Zuko would be destructive together because they can't be trusted, unlike Aang who is a moral authority on everything by virtue of being the hero. It's such a conservative view that is designed to gaslight victims of violence. Aang is also a victim of violence which is why it's bs that the creators put that crap in his mouth, but that's another issue.

[yiliy]

When you fail to answer a single of the three question you were asked in a discussion you shouldered your way in, and instead fall back on use of swear words and personal insults it just tells everyone who reads what you wrote that you are completely unwilling to engage in any form of decent human interaction. And that you have no arguments to support your claims.

Yes it's digusting and you don't need to think or talk about it if it's too difficult for you, but be at least so objective to recognize that without asking the difficult questions it is impossible to build a proper ethical and moral framework for fair and equal human societies. If anything, your recoil at the question should give you more respect for people writing international laws and dealing with such difficult topics who DO have to seriously consider such disgusting comparisons.

Now, not to stray too far from Star Wars: Your point about Lucas's supposedly racist treatment of Tuskens.

I don't know if you ever saw all 6 Star Wars movies Lucas made, from your post it seems like you haven't, but we have two types of treatments of Tusken raiders:

By characters like Luke and Obi-Wan, who are positive characters, firmly on the light-side. Obi-Wan refuses to hurt Tuskens even when it's to protect Luke, literally his only goal in life, and choses to simply scare them off and remove himself and Luke from the situation. Luke also showed absolutely no anger or wish for revenge even after he had been attacked first.

By Anakin and Padme, former who slaughters Tuskens the same way he slaughtered Jedi children and Rebels, and the latter who is ready to forgive his slaughter of Jedi children ("Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can!") just like she forgave the slaughter of Tusken raiders.

So in Lucas's narrarive, it is firmly established that hurting Tusken Raiders is evil.

This he also confirmed in interviews

it’s about a good boy who was loving and had exceptional powers, but how that eventually corrupted him and how he confused possessive love with compassionate love. That happens in Episode II: Regardless of how his mother died, Jedi are not supposed to take vengeance. 

As well as in the novelization of The Phantom Menace where Anakin, while he is still a good and innocent child, saves a Tusken Raider and members of his/her tribe come pick him/her up while Anakin is asleep completely alone in the wilderness and don't do anything to him.

You yourself say that massacring Tuskens is Anakin's first step into the dark side, so you obviously DO understand Lucas's narrative frames it as an unforgivable thing. I don't know where your wires got crossed.

The rest you bring up wasn't what I wrote and I don't want to drag other people into this against their wishes.

Also, racism is not Beetlejuice. Just because you say it 3 times won't make it appear.

[warsofasoiaf]

Sure, the internal politics was a bit flat, but I thought you punched it up enough to make it work. But realistically, Collins would be much more politically powerful after repelling two invasions? The Protestant Ulsterites are given fair consideration. Just seems like the game mechanics got in the way, but you wove it into the story well. Also, Rose of Sharon Cassidy reminder!

Rose of Sharon Cassidy is a great companion. At first glance, she’s a callback to one of the more popular Fallout companions, John Cassidy. Both have big hearts (neither can be recruited if the player has low Karma) and a heart condition. Both are small business owners. Both have a knack for shotguns (Cass gets the Shotgun Surgeon perk and I usually end up giving her Dinner Bell) and acquit themselves well in firefights. Both are experienced. Both can have quite colorful and inventive pieces of profanity. However, Rose of Sharon Cassidy is a great character in her own right, she is not merely another character’s shadow.

Cassidy is one of two Western-themed companion characters in the game, the other being Raul. While the second act of Fallout: New Vegas is about Vegas and the power struggle within it, the first act of the game borrows a lot of Western themes and motifs, from the little town shootout ala Rio Bravo to finding a sheriff for Primm to the man rising from certain death to pursue their killer like a non-supernatural High Plains Drifter. Cassidy is a caravanner and muleskinner (or brahminskinner because it’s Fallout), a classic Western archetype, and she fits the description: rugged, colorful, and individualistic. She’s tough and violent to contend with a tough, violent Wasteland, with a love of whiskey to match any Clint Eastwood character.

Speaking of Clint Eastwood, Rose of Sharon Cassidy is firmly in the revisionist Western camp of Western characters. Classic Westerns often didn’t have many roles for women outside of love interests to damsel, doting wives, or wicked saloon girls, which in the era of the Hays Code was a codeword for prostitute, but in the 1960′s roles began to expand for women in Westerns as the Western genre itself began to revise itself. Revisionist Westerns, for those not in the know, often took the classic Western genre to task, the depth and scope of which would be too lengthy an aside for this essay. Suffice it to say, when Cassidy joins up, she makes it plain that she isn’t looking to be just a tag-along, she’s being joined because of her skills. Cass is not a worthless hanger-on, a character devoid of depth to simply enrich the Courier’s tale. She’s a Revisionist Western character, and she has her own story.

Rose of Sharon Cassidy is a moral person even though she has Neutral Karma herself. She does not like a Courier that commits hostile acts and will call the Courier out if their Karma begins to drop. You get two strikes with Cass, and dropping to Evil Karma means you’re out, she will up and leave. If you do not start something, she will head back West, giving up on a future for herself in the Mojave. Or contrarily, if the Courier is a shitbox as well as evil, she’ll shoot. There are things that she won’t tolerate and it’s based on Karma, not faction reputation like the other companion characters. Again, Cass has her own story, she will not content herself being a tag-along. This isn’t perfect, of course, open-world games being what they are, you can take your time accomplishing her quest, but mechanics and story are always, in some ways, at odds. A pressing deadline means lost content, which can be perfectly fine for some games, but other times, not so much.

Cassidy, however, is at her lowest point when she meets the Courier, drinking away the days at the Mojave Outpost bar after her caravan company had been roasted to ashes in an apparent raider attack. Unable to leave due to Ranger Jackson forbidding caravan travel due to giant ant attacks, Cassidy is content to spin her wheels and drown her sorrows, and will not move for any reason, not even the most silver-tongued Courier. Instead, she recommends you to one of her competitors, Alice McLafferty of the Crimson Caravan, the largest caravan company in New California, and an ironic recommendation given what will come later in Cass’s own quest.

Continuing with McLafferty’s quest line, however, gives you Cass’s companion quest Heartache By the Number, which is also a song on the New Vegas soundtrack - a mournful Guy Mitchell country song about a man who constantly has his heart broken by a lover who leaves him, comes back, leaves him again, and says that they’re coming back but never do. The song’s protagonist, despite the pain, cannot bear to end it and leave, because even though it hurts, the day he stops counting his heartaches is the day the world ends. Despite the pain, the singer can’t give his lover up, and we see that Cass, despite her caravan having been lost, can’t bear to give it up and sell it to Alice. Anyone who has ever owned a business can tell you, there’s a piece of themselves in their work, and it can be hard to give it up even if the offer is tempting (this isn’t universal sentiment, of course, plenty of business owners do wish to sell at a good price). Cassidy Caravans isn’t just a caravan company, it’s a piece of Cass. She even asks flat-out “if someone asked to give you 1,000 caps for your name, would you?” Even if all she had was nothing, nothing was still worth something because it was still hers. 

The quest to buy the caravan is one of the little things in the game that truly show Obsidian’s love for the craft and their use of dialogue for fun. You can pay extra out of your own pockets to recruit Cass, standard fare for an RPG because you don’t want to miss out on content just because you don’t have the right skill and money is usually an acceptable fix in gaming, but the other options are excellent. The two speech checks, the first to point out that she doesn’t want to be trapped here forever, and the second that points out that if she was responsible for Cassidy Caravans, the destruction of it is on her too. Both get you the same results, but require different speech levels in order to get out. Neither one provides any mechanical difference to Cass, but the accusatory stance naturally would engender hostility, and so it should be a harder speech check. The game uses the mechanics to reinforce the action in a way that the game’s limitation on programming cannot easily match. This isn’t as elegant, perhaps, as the speech check with Ulysses at the end of Lonesome Road litters the conversation tree with false answers that will catch someone who wasn’t paying attention and just clicking through the tree, but it gets the point across with much less conversational depth (and accordingly, less programming and voice acting work). The best option, however, is the drinking contest, where you pay 12 bottles of whiskey to attempt to drink Cass under the table. The actual choices all end in the same successful quest resolutions, but the paths that they take vary considerably and hilariously, from Cass smoking you and you falling off your stool (in dialogue options only, the engine wouldn’t render that), you becoming equally drunk and saying stupid drunk things like “I love you and your little hat,” to you simply obliterating Cass with your gigantic 10 Endurance, asking if you felt *what* exactly as you polish off six bottles of whiskey like they were water. There’s absolutely no point in creating that many dialogue choices other than the pure love of doing it, of putting it in there, of enjoying the craft of the RPG. It’s these little things that make me love Obsidian as a developer, and it’s something more game developers should do, to place more love into their programming and presentation.

After joining up with you, Cass still isn’t ready to simply forget her caravan, and asks if you can stop by site where it was hit. She wonders whether there’s any indication of what hit her caravan, but even if you’ve been there and seen the devastation, she asks to go anyway, to pay her respects if nothing else. Part of this is simple signposting, you need to get to the caravan so you can hit the next checkpoint of the quest to continue, but it still speaks to Cass’s character that she says that she wants to go there and does not simply take the Courier’s word and be done with it. The scene is every bit as bad as she thought, her caravan was hit by someone carrying energy weapons and looking not to rob the caravan but to destroy it completely and utterly, which is baffling. Hitting a caravan is typically supposed to be about stealing the goods and getting rich, not simply bloodsport. It’s confusing, but it’s also Fiend territory, who use energy weapons. A Fiend warband, whacked out of their brains with Psycho might look to satisfy their bloodlust, or Jet might make them so twitchy that they keep shooting until everything is ash. The hit is too professional though, Brotherhood of Steel-level military tactics, which wouldn’t match up with tweaking Fiends, but the Brotherhood doesn’t attack caravans without high-level technology.

Since there are too many inconsistencies, Cass wants to see what happened to Griffin Wares, another caravan company. The wreckage is the same, disintegrated caravan and cargo both, which means it cannot simply be a one-off, at least by video game logic anyway. Conservation of detail means that two times is enough to be strange, and three times is a confirmed pattern via the Rule of Three. Now suspicious instead of curious, Cass and the Courier investigate Durable Dunn’s Caravan. Living up to their name, however, this time there’s evidence that this was not the result of random juiced-up Fiends but a concerted assassination and murder by the Crimson Caravan and the Van Graff crime family, looking to murder their way to maximum profits by eliminating the competition and establishing a monopoly. We have the reveal and now we reach another classic hallmark of the Western genre, what is the hero supposed to choose? Kill them both in revenge for their crimes, or trust in the NCR’s justice system and bring evidence to Ranger Jackson to indict both of them. We also get a good view of a classic Western conflict, the big monied interests versus the little guy. These happened plenty of times in the west, such as in the Johnson County War where the homesteaders fought the wealthy Wyoming cattlemen’s association. 

Cassidy, hot-headed, is looking for a good brawl, and you can have two big fights at the Crimson Caravan HQ and the Silver Rush, the latter of which being a big energy weapon fight where, if successful, you can walk away with enough microfusion cells that you might qualify as a ghoul. That’s the classic Western anti-hero move, where the justice system is a tool of the powerful and both the crime syndicate and the corporation are the powerful. This form of justice is sorted on the frontier, beyond where the corrupt courts can reach. It’s immensely satisfying to Cass, and when she gives into her wrath her character receives a permanent upgrade of 15% gun damage. Combined with her Shotgun Surgeon perk, which ignores DT, Cass can become quite lethal with a 12-gauge. Yet the damage is not limited just to the Van Graff’s and the Crimson Caravan. The NCR is proven to be unable to protect caravans leading out to the Mojave on the Long 15 and so supply shipments drop off, and NCR settlements suffer. The Divide was already destroyed by the Courier before the game even started (and the Long 15 might be nuked depending on your choices in Lonesome Road) so that really stings.

The alternative though, is putting your fate in the hands of the corrupt NCR, ruled by its brahmin barons and other monied interests. Cass trusts Jackson with the evidence, but it would take a long time to prosecute the two conspirators. It means delaying the visceral satisfaction of revenge and the power that such an act can entail, and risking the chance that it fails. But if you show faith in the NCR, then that faith is rewarded. NCR uses the conspiracy to shape up their trade laws, and the Crimson Caravan and Van Graffs hurt in their bottom line. For her own part, Cass calms herself and becomes much tougher as a result, gaining max HP. Of course, this is clumsy though, since the Gun Runners can end up vaporizing both of them with no push back and your get the best of both worlds (and previously, a bug allowed you to peacefully complete the quest then go kill them and get both perks). It’s a bit clumsy perhaps, but life isn’t fair. Personally, I would have designed the quest so you had to collect a certain amount of evidence, not enough and the Van Graffs and Alice McLafferty get off scot-free. Whether that would be in the quest or just an ending slide, I could go either way, but I think that would have been a better way to build that kind of quest.

Of course, you could do nothing with Cass. You can bring her to Jean-Baptiste Cutting and have him gun her down to complete Birds of a Feather, coldly escorting Cass to her own slaughter. Of course, this is an evil act and it makes perfect sense for Cass, the one who would be disgusted by an evil Courier, to be the one eliminated in an Evil Karma path. That’s a credit to Obsidian, few developers are brave enough these days to create mutually exclusive content because of the cost of production, or mutually exclusive content being binary beads on a string where you have to choose between a saving a bus full of nuns or devouring a live kitten with minor callbacks and a morality meter to note your choice. But that’s a function of the increased cost of production these days, gone are the days when a level could be produced with a couple of writers, artists, and scripters (such as it was in Fallout 2). 

You knew it was coming. If this surprised you, you have only yourself to blame.

Cass is a supporter of the NCR, and it’s here that she shines, perhaps even unintentionally, as a revisionist Western character. She likes her country, but she’s aware of its flaws. The NCR lacks direction and cohesion, their compass is “always spinning, all the time.” The NCR is family, and you love family, but you can help but hurt as well that your family is constantly screwing up. The constant need to spread, to acquire more land and resources. It’s great press for the top, like Kimball who can give his pretty speeches at the Hoover Dam, but the common NCR grunt has to fight hostile gangs and wildlife without an established support structure to back them up. And Cass sees that if the NCR wins, it won’t change because it won’t learn. She wants the NCR to fix itself and is completely at a loss for how to do it. She far prefers NCR over the other factions, but she isn’t blind to its flaws. Like Raul she understands why some would join the Legion (provided they weren’t women, of course), because the security of their supply lines means that the threat of random violence is reduced, and that’s important in a post-apocalypse. Why pay these crushing NCR taxes if they won’t protect you? Why is NCR expanding to Hoover Dam when it can’t even stop cazadors from nesting near the power lines? They’re too thinly spread, and they won’t consolidate and reform because that doesn’t win you elections. 

The same is true of the Western genre in the revisionist Westerns. They state that the frontier was a black-and-white affair, where good guys wore the white Stetson and the desperados wore the black one. Cass’s feelings on the NCR are similar to what plenty of Western writers thought about Westerns, and what citizens of their own countries think about the nations they live in. The words that Cass speaks about the NCR could be said by any member of any nation, loving their country but wanting to fix the flaws. 

This isn’t to say that New Vegas is completely morally grey. There’s some clear moral lines that can be drawn, Caesar’s Legion is clearly an evil and cruel nation despite Caesar’s claims of Hegelian dialectical inevitability. But what about the NCR? Do its intentions for good or ill doom it or save it? Do you continue to support that family member that constantly screws up or do you stop giving them the rope to hang themselves. The answers to that question aren’t easy, but the faction system working toward the goal of what the Mojave is one of the biggest draws of the game, and so it’s clearly showing that these are types of questions worth discovering an answer to, whether it’s in the real world or the fantasy world.

Cass, as a character, gets you to start thinking about the flaws of these factions, because the grand climax of Hoover Dam has you picking which factions you want, whether one of the large ones with their own visions, or the ala carte options of the Yes Man playthrough where you pick which ones to embrace or reject. So Cass, in a nutshell, is that way a distillation of the grand Fallout: New Vegas experience; something you’d never expect from a whiskey-soaked nobody drowning her sorrows in a dingy bar in the corner of the map.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[aksthetwosainthijimiko-blog]

I am not Zero, part two

“Thank you.” Dhira.... Lalita.... Zero inclined his head as took the new E-tank from Hidden Phantom, one the Shinobi had fetched from behind a secret emergency unit.

Zero cracked it open, but didn't drink it yet. Instead, he seemed to be offering it to someone... probably his imaginary friend.

The black and white Shinobi grunted as he studied the ancient build.

... For something that was over a hundred-year-old, Zero didn’t look all that different from Phantom and his brethren, being manufactured at the same time, four years ago in a bid to stop the maverick uprising by giving Master X some potent assistants.

He still looked very worn tough, but who wouldn't after running up the booby-trapped tower and fighting hords of pantheons and the guardians?

‘Any lesser reploid would not have made past the fifth  floor’ Of this, Phantom was certain.

“Say... Phantom?” Zero addressed the Shinobi. “Can you hide yourself from X?” Zero asked as he finally began to sip from the can.

“You want me to spy on my Master.” Phantom flatly stated.

“As a Ninja, we do not have masters, and we do not follow the general morality, just a Strong code of ethic and respect.”

If the one you serve is less than stellar and is using your mystic skills to opresse instead of protecting; then it is your duty to kill him.” Zero declared with eyes holding cold steel. “Hidden Phantom, you are not a Dog-like Samurai who will slavishly follow the order of his master unquestionably. You are a Shinobi, a free agent, and instrument of divine justice to be used for those who have abused their power!”

Phantom reflectively swallowed... this, was not the confused dog he had fought the first two times, but an ancient warrior, a Shinobi who lived by the code...

And yet.

“Big words for Ciel’s attack mutt.” phantom gave a nasty smirk.

“I don’t serve Ciel.” Zero flatly refuted as he sipped from the E-tank, letting out a small sigh of relief. “But... I am the Servant of a worthy master.” He admitted with a beautiful and ever-so grateful smile.

Phantom would forever hate himself... but at this moment, Zero became the most beautiful and handsome reploid on the planet.

“Oh? And who would that be?” He asked instead, trying not to stare at the bright-faced maverick.  Intel about the red Legend was harder to come by then one would expect.

“ You don’t know them and... They’re not In Neo-Arcadia.” Zero informed the Shinobi, who was now all ears.

“Not in... some reploids raiders, are they?”

“Nope!” Zero took a sip. “A couple of Vaishnavas living in France. In Nouvelle Mayapure.”

“You’re lying!” Phantom immediately denied. “Neo-Arcadia is the last Bastion of humanity, beyond its sacred walls lies a radiated desert!”

“Not everywhere.” Zero simply answered. “Sure most of the big cities are still ruins. But small villages and small settlements have grown into other cities... Nouvelle-Mayapure is one of them. And this was where I found my master and his Saintly wife.” Zero drained the last of the thank and after consuming the can (it was made of specialized Alloy needed by reploids.) He got up. “As much as I would love to keep chatting about my Gurus, we have plenty on our plates... and I would rather not make X wait for me any longer.”

“Right... lead the way.” Phantom bid as he  activated his cloaking device and shut off all unneeded communication... essentially, appearing as dead.

:Zero... please wait five minute, I want them all to think I died.: He Radioed the eldest built. And, after five minutes went to the transerver.

He could feel his pump pulsating... what would be revealed from this confrontation?

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

Phantom stood hidden behind Zero, the natural darkness of Area X masking whatever had been left by his cloaking device.

In front of his stood master X, in all of his glories. He was glaring at Zero with both fear and rage. His red eyes glowing in the gloom of the room.

Zero took a few steps forward when the three other guardians teleported in.

“Stop!” Harpuia yield as he launched a wind blade... his accuracy greatly diminished by his wounds.

“We won’t allow you to pass!” Fefnir roared.

“... J... Just give up!” Leviathan managed to say in between her gasps.

It seemed Zero had not been lenient on her.

:Zero... And I thought you holy man would not hit a woman. : Phantom mildly scolded the so called... servant of God. :Not so above all, are you?:

:Technically, we are all female by nature.: Zero replied without a pause as he prepared for the worst. :And Leviathan is a... A coward like the rest of your group... but she’s still considered a warrior in her own right.:

:Cowards?:

:A real warrior will fight to the death and will gladly die in the battlefield... you all ran away the moment you began feeling some of your wounds.:

“Leave, you won’t survive this fight.” The voice of his master resounded from the dark area of the room. Interrupting whatever argument Phantom may have had.

On one side, Phantom knew Master X was right. None of them were in any condition to face the fool...and yet!

They could have given some support to the emperor of Neo-Arcadia. But alas, their Master desired to fight his traitorous friend alone.

He would win, of this, Phantom was sure... like, absolutely sure...

After a round of very understandable cursing, all guardians vacated the place, leaving only Zero, Master X and the hidden Phantom behind.

Zero gave a good look at Master X, then he opened communication with Phantom.

:Phantom, whatever happen... please don’t kill him.:

:I will be the judge of that.:

: Krishna told me the next step will be easier if he’s still alive... and knowing your skills, there would be no chance to even try to reason with him.:

:Reason with him?: Phantom almost asked.

: He’s only four year old, Phantom... he’s practicly a child.:

:If your right, that is.:

Zero didn’t awnser, instead, he turned his attention towards master X. “Who are you?“Do you have a name?”

‘Ah, Acting dumb, are you?’ Once again, Phantom was eager to see where this would be going.

Master X sneered, his red eyes shining with... malice? ‘No, that can’t be right.’

“What you don't remember your old friend? It’s me Zero, X!”

Zero kept looking at his old friend as if he was a stranger... and then.

“X has Green eyes.”

Those four words had the same effect of a missile detonating in the middle of Neo-arcadia.

“He’s five foot three, you barely five feet in height. His nose was covered in freckles, your skin is smooth... And X’s voice is deeper, yours is childlike.”

Master X... is he really was whom he declared to be, sneered.

“Let me ask you again; who are you?”

“I’m X’s perfect copy!” The Copy revealed himself. Opening his arms as his natural cruelty manifested himself in his smile. “I am the new hero, the one who will save the humanity from this wasted world!”

For his part, phantom did his best to remain concealed as he watched a monster move the body of his beloved master.

Phantom knew body language, he had a dedicated computer designated for those type of programs.

“Didn’t you noticed Zero?” The copy continued... and Phantom could only hope his body language was just an illusion. “Humans have never been this happy before. And this is all due to me.” he raised his hands as pride filled his chest. “I have managed to achieve the goal neither of you even managed to come close... I Have achieved what X never could!”

“Alright, and who are you?” Zero asked again. Not with anger (admirably enough). “Do you have a name? A number? Any type of designation?”

This question seemed to take...

Phantom’s eyes grew wider behind his mask... Zero had established that this reploid was but a mere copy, now he needed to know who he truly was.

The copy worked his mouth for a bit, it was clear that Zero managed to catch him in a loop. “I... I’m... AH...”

“They called you X.”

“Shut up!”

“They didn’t even bother giving you your own identity.”

“Shut up!”

“Tell me... how did you discover that you were made at the image of my best friend?” Zero asked as he showed no sing of agretion. His posture was relaxed, and while his arms were crossed, they didn’t carry any sign of fear or mistrust.

His voice was modulated in such a way that it carried a type of kindness only experienced councillor. But from What Phantom had managed to gather from the public enemy number one... Zero was never a councillor, but had needed one.

Unfortunately, he never went to see him, and instead, sealed himself again. Essentially committing suicide, if his final logs were of any indications.

And then Zero’s reaction to Phantom’s attempt made all the more senses.

“Why should I tell you, Maverick.” The Copy spat. “You're a Criminal, a terrorist!”

“I didn’t bomb a peaceful settlement... and I would never murder my kind because human’s can’t live without their Internet and whatever electronic drugs on the market for them.” Zero openly sneered.

“What’s wrong with them if it makes them Happy?” The Copy shot back. “They have whatever they want, they have all the pleasure they desire... Isn’t it the goal of life for them? To have as much pleasure and happiness before death come, and they become nothing?”

“No.” Zero awnser flatly. “ The living entity is the eternal soul, for him, death is but a change of costume.” He explained, reminding Phantom that he was indeed a spiritual practitioner.

Weirdly enough.

“ You want to make your humans happy... and this is the desire of all great leader. But the only thing you saved what the cage the soul is stuck it.” He declared bodily. “No one can truly be happy and not serve God with Love, it’s impo-”

“Oh, Shut up would you?” The Copy snapped. “ The soul’s a myth, scientists has managed to replicate human consciences in machines.” He sneered as he aimed his buster (left-handed) at Zero. “Wake up, Zero, this is the age of technology and cold, hard fact! The whole concept of God and the soul has been busted, I know we’re all going to die, so better enjoy whatever life I have left.”

“And yet, reploids are doing an action only embodied spirit soul can; they desire! They have emotions... and you killed them all for a false sense of peace and artificial prosperity... and out for your own twisted sense of so-called pleasure.” Zero sneered and Phantom realized that he was getting rilled up.

He had heard stories and inspected the result of what a rilled-up Zero could do... it was not pretty.”

And science didn’t disprove anything save the intelligence of those who worship it.” The Blond legend raised his voice as he jabbed an accusatory finger at the copy. “What did science gave us save from a hundred years worth of wars, famines and false promises of a better tomorrow? It did nothing, absolutely nothing... nothing but more misery hidden behind a veneer of so-called pleasure.”

Copy stared owlishly at the Mad maverick, computing what he had just said.

Then... a mocking smile split his lips has he began to cackle at the crazy blond.

“Your... you're funny. You’re hilarious.” phantom heart the bank grade bolt lock the only two exits the room. “Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

“... So, you want to fight?” Zero asked As he took out his Z-sabre. “You demons are all the same.“ He growled. “Fine... Yamaraja was waiting for you anyway.”

And thus... the most brutal of fight began as Phantom helplessly looked on.

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

To be continued.

[ask-the-childrenofrevolution]

We’ll meet again some sunny day The past few days on Momoiro Island had been like a dream. Charley and Hana had been having a wonderful time with their predecessors. Koala was absolutely pleasant to be around, she had tried to teach Hana a few basic Fishman Karate techniques, but when Hana had tried it on a big boulder, it shattered to pieces as the super mutant’s strength combined with the Fishman Karate proved to be overkill. Charley had gotten along real well with Sabo, the second in command was quiet energetic and shared stories about his adventures with the young mink. Charley was entranced by Sabo’s retelling of his childhood growing up  alongside Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace.  In turn Charley shared stories of his and Hana’s adventures, though he had to heavily censor them in order to conceal future events. “I gotta say Charley, you certainly live a very exciting life, what part of the sea did you say you come from again” ? Sabo asked. “The New World, close to Kaido’s territories.” Charley replied. Of course that was a lie, in reality Charley was from the East Blue; the supposed weakest sea, but after the bombs it had become just as dangerous as any other part of the ocean. “Wow, that must be rough, living that close to a Yonko.” Sabo said. Sabo then stood up. “There’s something I need to get real quick, I’ll be right back okay”? Sabo said. “I’ll be right here waiting.” Charley responded. Once Sabo left the room Charley’s attention was moved to the Revolutionary Army’s Northern commander Karasu, who was sitting at a table nearby. Charley walked over and greeted the man.  “How are you doing today Karasu”? Charley asked. There came an inaudible mumble, hard to hear even with Charley’s feline enhanced hearing. “Um, Karasu”? Charley interrupted. The older Revolutionary paused and looked at the young mink in confusion. “Your speaker, its off.” Charley informed. Karasu gave a look of surprise, before moving his hand underneath his mask. There came a click of a button, then Karasu spoke up. “My apologies Charley, I am doing well today. How about you, are you doing alright”? Karasu asked. “I’m doing good, Hana and the others have been a big help with getting me back onto my feet.” Charley said with a grin. “I wish you kids didn’t have to go through that.  As unfair as this world is, it should at least have the decency to spare the children.” Karasu grumbled. “ It is unfair, but unfortunately that’s how things are. The best thing we could do is make the future better for the next generation.” Charley said. Karasu nodded in agreement. Charley looked down at his SEAHORSE and flipped to its audio tab. On this tab were recordings of Magpie singing. Charley thought it wouldn’t hurt to let Karasu listen to his descendant’s song. “Do you enjoy music Karasu”? Charley asked. “Every now and then I will hear a song that’s enjoyable, why do you ask?” Karasu asked. “Well, my friend Maggie is a singer and I wanted to know if you would like to hear one of her songs.” Charley said. “ That would be fine.” Karasu said. Charley pressed the play tab on his SEAHORSE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LsxVDGfwwc Everyone in the room was drawn to the music, gathering around Charley and Karasu. They stared on in awe as Magpie’s song floated into the air. At the door way Dragon listened in as well. “Holy shit.” Betty quietly complemented. Karasu was absolutely speechless as was the rest of the group. “She...she’s extraordinary.” Karasu finally manage to say. “Kid’s got one hell of a voice.” Betty added in. As evening approached Hana and Charley were once again out on the balcony enjoying the sunset. “It was really great getting to talk to Iva-sama, they had a lot of real interesting stories about grandpa Kuma that I know everyone back home are really going to enjoy.” Hana said. “Things have been so perfect since we’ve arrived here. We’ve escaped death, got to meet the original Revolutionaries, and I’ve gotten to exchange cups of  saké with Sabo.” Charley said happily. “Wait, you had  saké with Sabo? When did that happen”? Hana asked. “It was when you were running away from all those Okamas that wanted to give you the ultimate cute makeover.” Charley responded. “Yeah, thanks for helping me out back there.” Hana said sarcastically. “Sorry.” Charley sheepishly apologized. “Wait, wasn’t Morley with you guys”? Hana asked. “Yeah, so”? Charley responded. “Wouldn’t they be able to remember that event when we get back to our time”? Hana asked. “Fuck”! Charley said.  In the wasteland the giant ghoul was very much against underage drinking, even with Rook and Magpie being former raiders. The unruliness of the wasteland had not changed the giant ghoul’s morals. Hana giggled. “You idiot.” She said to Charley. Charley was now expecting to meet the giant ghoul, cheeks puffed out, arms crossed, and foot tapping in disappointment when they met up again. “I’m so grounded.” Charley said.  “As great as everything is here, I do miss our friends and our Morley.” Hana said. “Same, plus now that we know where Project Minuteman is we can start making plans for retaliation against the World Government.” Charley said. The two looked out to the blue sea. “Just imagine it, no more glowing green sea.” Charley said. “And no more Celestial Dragons”. Hana added. “What about your aunt Orchid? Are you still upset at her”? Charley asked. “Helping us sneak into Marijoa can’t undo her involvement in getting my parents killed.” Hana said coldly. Charley was taken aback by Hana’s demeanor. She let out a heavy sigh. “However, if she really is regretful for what she’s done, then...” Hana paused. “I don’t know, I’ll just have to give her some time.” Hana said frustrated. Not wanting to upset Hana more, Charley changed subjects. “We better get going soon, I was thinking of leaving tonight when everyone has gone to bed.” Charley said. “That sounds good to me, the device is already charged up for our return trip.” Hana said as she pulled out a small spherical device. “Better grab a weapon of some kind before we leave, I don’t want to arrive back into the wasteland and be face to face with a Bananawani weaponless.” Charley said. “Good idea, maybe Lindbergh has a few he can spare.” Hana said. The two walked away from the balcony, from behind a wall Sabo walked out. His mouth was agape as he stepped out onto the balcony, from behind him Dragon walked out as well. “WHAT THE HELL”! Sabo said aloud. He turned to Dragon. “You heard that right Dragon”? Sabo asked. Dragon remained silent, deep in thought. “I..I can’t believe it! Hana, Charley, their time travelers! Do you know what this means”? Sabo asked Dragon. “Nothing, this means nothing.” Dragon said plainly. Sabo looked at his boss in stunned disbelief. “But they could be a big help! The war, we could...” Sabo protested but was interrupted by Dragon. “Sabo, I know that you only have the best of intentions, but you need to realize that we can not interfere.” Dragon said. “What about Hana and Charley”? Sabo asked. “To them we are history. If we took even the smallest of actions to change the flow of time, we could very well wipe Hana and Charley out of existence.” Dragon stated. “But that’s unfair, they deserve a better world then the wasteland they came from”! Sabo argued. “Nothing is fair in this world Sabo, doesn’t matter which point in time someone is from.” Dragon said. Dragon looked at the dishearten Sabo. “You need to have trust in them Sabo. These children have not only managed to survive the hazards of their wasteland, but have managed to thrive. They have reignited our movement and are on the verge of bringing down the World Government.” Dragon added. “They really are remarkable.” Sabo confessed. Later that night Charley and Hana snuck out of their guest rooms. “You got everything”? Charley asked. “Yes, everyone’s sound asleep so we should get going.” Hana replied quietly. The two quietly made their way to the exit of Ivankov’s palace. As they neared the entrance, they found Lindbergh waiting at the door. “Lind, what are you doing here”? Charley asked. “I just wanted to see you guys off and make sure you have a safe trip back.” Lindbergh said. Hana gave Lindbergh the device and the older mink inspected it thoroughly. “Everything looks in order, there shouldn’t be any slip ups on your travels.” Lindbergh said assuring. He handed the device back to Hana. “Thank you for all that you have done Lind, we wouldn’t have made it without you.” Charley said sincerely. The two minks hugged. Charley tried to fight back the tears at the thought of never getting to see Lindbergh again once he returned to the wasteland. “Now, you be safe you hear. Don’t want you to whine up on some nutcase’s operating table.” Lindbergh said. From the tone of his voice it was easy to tell that Lindbergh himself was on the verge of crying. Getting to save and meet his X great grandson had been quiet an adventure for the Southern commander, one he would cherish forever. “We should get going.” Hana said, teary eyed herself. The two minks let go from their embrace. “I’m so proud of you Charley, you are much braver then you know. You young Revs are going to do great things.” Lindbergh said. Charley wiped the tears away from his eyes. “I’ll never forget you.” Was the last thing Charley said to Lindbergh. The older cat mink backed away to avoid getting caught up in the device. “Ready”? Hana asked. “Ready.” Charley replied. The two waved goodbye to Lindbergh and Lindbergh waved goodbye in return. Hana pressed the device’s button and with a flash of bright light, the two were gone. From atop the palace tower Dragon watched on as the two children disappeared. He then looked up to the starry sky above. “Good luck and Goda’s speed young Revolutionaries, may your group find success were we have failed.” Dragon spoke.