#sosu mae ishikawa

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3 for your oc

Oh wow! This is sweet of you. I hadn’t meant for it to be an ask meme but I won’t turn down the opportunity ✨ I’m assuming you meant Amy? I think I’ll throw the others in here if you don’t mind c:

The prompt for anyone who missed it:

What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go?

Amy

I think the first and easiest answer would be nuka cola. She uses it to stay awake because she doesn’t like sleeping/won’t sleep when there’s something to get done. She gets really bad at indulging herself and this is the only “guilty pleasure” she can afford herself. Eventually, she indulges herself on art supplies, but only after other people push her to. She won’t let herself have it at first, but she misses creating art so much that she gives in after she gets her leather journal. Otherwise, all her most expensive purchases are supplies for survival: bullets, stimpacks, water, food, etc.

Sunshine

Sunny has so much money and she loves spending it, and being in New Vegas there’s a lot of places to spend it. However, as much as she loves to indulge herself, her love language is gift-giving which means she spends A LOT of money on other people. There’s the common thing of a pretty new dress for Veronica, good spirits for Cass, etc etc. but actually. It’s more like, “oh this is cause you care about? How about I donate thousands of caps to it?” Sunny loves spending lots of money and she loves spending on people she loves and admires.

Mae

Prewar? Plants, wine, and model kits. This is all things she does to relax and unwind. She loves gardening, nurturing the little plants is very fulfilling and relaxing for her, especially after being stuck in a lab for so much time of the week. With wine, she loves a good dry red, and she will drop the money for Good wine. Model kits: she has the green gridded mat, the exact knife, all the paints, small brushes, etc. as well as buying what she needs to build the models themselves. I’m not sure what the models are of since gundam isn’t a thing in Fallout…? And she is super anti military so it wouldn’t be anything associated with that…

Post-war… she doesn’t really spend a lot money. Not really to be frugal, but because there’s very little she cares to spend it on that isn’t resources. If she wants an indulgence, it’s usually found while out in the Commonwealth on a mission that she allows herself to take home with her.

After consulting my partner, they’ve absolutely murdered me with this hard truth: noodles. Takahashi’s noodles aren’t expensive, but almost all her disposable income goes to ramen noodles there. Her husband grew up and worked at a ramen shop, and would make it for the family all the time. It’s her little piece of him, of home, that she gives herself every chance she gets.

Thank you again for this! It was a lot of fun! 😄

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WIP ...Monday?

Despite the cautious look in her eye there was a confidence to Mrs. Ishikawa's posture that he knew only came from experience. Sure, her aim wasn't marksmanship quality, but for a pre-war widow and mother she sure knew her stuff. Not battle-hardened, but smart. A good mind for strategy and the ability to pick up on details, and she wasn't naive enough to trust just anyone that walked up to her selling a promise. According to Mrs. Ishikawa's own account she'd only been out in the wastes for a few weeks tops, but something about the way she moved and talked told a more interesting story. The way she moved spoke to some sort of military training, however light, and they way she talked definitely let off more than she knew. She used military time, she talked in colder clinical terms, and she knew a hell of a lot about both the world before the bombs, and the apocalyptic wasteland that came after.

Sometimes she'd catch herself, like she knew she was giving up her own lie, but she would always prioritize the matter at hand over keeping up whatever charade she had going. The real headscratcher was figuring out the why and what of it all.

Mrs. Ishikawa was telling the truth- everything about her could be corroborated and vouched for- yet she was still hiding something big, even from the kid. He'd been willing to let sleeping dogs lie until Kellogg.

"Your kids aren't here… but you already knew that."

With everything going on at the time, Nick hadn't had the chance to follow up on that particular clue. But now they were here, three steps outside of the Memory Den with rain misting their coats, and neither one of them made a move to step inside.

"Nick- about Kellogg-" the words caught in her throat, the careful wall of ice she kept up when doing business beginning to crack. The Old Nick had watched a documentary once about the glaciers up North. There was a clip of the noises they made when the ice began to shatter. Even in the rain he could hear it now.

"If you knew, what was the point of all this? I've been in this with you for the long haul, doll, but now I have to ask: what am I walking into?"

Drops rolled down her pale cheeks, shining spectacularly in the neon lights of Goodneighbor. She shuttered. "He killed Takeshi, Nick. My best friend, the love of my life, and he and those monsters took my children from me. It was slow and it was clinical. And now- and now they're-"

Mrs. Ishikawa's teeth chattered and her whole body curled into itself, "It was revenge, and that was only the beginning."

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Wip Wednesday

Tagged by @persephotea

Mae stared up at the ceiling examining the imperfections in the construction and paint. She’d done this dozens of times before, but tonight she realized there was a swirl in the paint where’d they used an off-white instead of the original white, and while she knew that not everyone saw the same shades of colors and she’d failed to notice it for a while... it was still driving her insane. Would it be too much to repaint the ceiling? They could make a project out of it, and maybe then Ren could have whatever color they wanted-

“Honey? Why are you on the floor?”

Wasn’t it obvious? She was trying to sink into it. Her whole body was slack on the hardwood panels, her spine stretched out and free of the burden of carrying the weight of itself. Here, she was at peace. Here, she wasn’t forcing the patriarchy down her daughter’s (no, son? … Spawn’s?) throat and crushing them under the weight of systemic gender based oppression. How could Mae be so stupid? She’d spent years in radical queer groups, had genderqueer partners, and even experimented herself- and how quickly had all of that been undone? Had she been genuine at all? Now she was married to a man (who she loved and adored), in a government job (which she hated and despised), in fucking suburbia with his fucking dog, essentially playing out the American Dream.

“Honey?”

Mae tore herself away from the ceiling and looked to Takeshi. She stared at him and instantly was filled with love for him and his pretty eyes and his handsome smile. He was doing it now, the one he always got when he thought she was doing something endearing, but Mae couldn’t fathom what was endearing about sinking into the ground as she unraveled. She was horrible parent and a horrible person and he was too pretty for her

He signed to her slow and purposefully, “You’re doing the face.”

The face? What face was she making?

When he didn’t seem to get the response he wanted he waved in front of his own face and said, “The cute blank one.”

Oh. She wasn’t making one at all. Ah. (She didn’t get why he thought it was cute, but he’d starting saying it a while ago out of nowhere. She didn’t get what was cute about forgetting to do facial expressions. It wasn’t like she was special for doing that.)

Still, she needed to communicate somehow so she rubbed her chest with her fist to sign sorry.

He shook his head, was he annoyed with her? “You don’t have to apologize, cho bi,” He settled down next to her, leaning his back against the bed. He ran a hand through her hair and smile down at her, “Shopping went that bad?”

She avoided his gaze, the shame bubbling up so strong she wanted to puke, but she nodded through the tears.

He sighed and nodded, saying nothing and focusing instead on working a knot out of her hair. She nearly ran in a panic, but his soothing voice broke through first. He spoke softly, “Want me to squish you?”

Mae giggled quietly and unconsciously wiggled as a little bubble of joy she hadn’t been expecting popped.

Takeshi’s smile widened, “What’s so funny little cho bi?”

The words her sluggish and small in her mouth, but she forced herself to speak anyway, “You.”

“Ah, I guess you don’t need me then.”

“I-I do!”

Takeshi chuckled, deliciously warm and rumbly, and straddled her on the floor so he could lay flat across her. He knew by now how much weight to lean on her as to not crush her while he did it, and more loved bloomed her chest. She didn’t know how it was possible, but everyday he found another way for her to fall in love with him more and more. She’d once thought that there was no way she could love him more than she did in that moment, but it wasn’t true. She fell deeper and deeper with every moment he breathed.

There was, of course, a shameful part of her brain that would twist any wholesome moment into something… less so. It was that part that grew warm and tingly down there and said that obviously the most logical thing to do right now was buck her hips. She didn’t, but his sweatpants were loose and he was very much pressed up against her.

Then, she remembered the shopping trip and spiraled back down the rabbit hole and had to cling to Takeshi and cry about it. God, what would her parents think of her of they saw her like this? She was so pathetic and childish and-

“I’m right here, Mae. You’re okay.” Takeshi pressed a kiss to the top of her head and she focused on the warm fanning of his breath and the sound of his voice.

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So I mentioned some allusions to Mae's backstory that I thought I'd elaborate on a little! There's obviously some stuff I won't get into for story spoiler reasons, but I wanted to give some context!

Mae's husband is Takeshi Ishikawa, she took his name when they got married, her maiden name is Hishiro. They've known each other since birth with their families having known each other for generations. It was actually the Ishikawas who helped the Hishiros immigrate to America! They grew up on the same block in New York and got married right after Mae got her bachelor's. They have two kids Ren, born 2060, and Shaun, born in 2077.

Her twin sister's name is Lin, and her notable surviving family members up until the bomb's drop are her father, her grandmother, and her aunt although her aunt and her aren't super close. Mae cut ties from her family when she went to college due to disagreeing with their... business, and Takeshi felt somewhat similarly although his parents weren't as involved. Eventually they fully reconnected, but it took a decade of miscommunication.

Mae ends up working on the PAM Initiative (or Project Oracle) as one of the core scientists along with Dr. Indra Ramarijan and Dr. Malcolm Davidson.

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🏞 - favorite vacation spot + Mae

;w; thank you Bleu I appreciate you

Here's the questionnaire this was pulled from!

EDIT: i'M A FOOL AND DIDNT REALIZE IT WAS FROM THE MOODBOARD ONE, HOLD PLEASE FOR INCOMING EDITS.

EDIT 2: asdfghjkl I fixed it, have the board as requested

Hmm! This is actually a toughie. I don't think Mae really... went on vacations? At least in her childhood there was never the money or time for it, and as an adult she's got even more restrictions on both her money and time... Probably only day or weekend trips when they could squeeze it in.

She really enjoys nature despite being dubbed an "egghead" by nearly everyone around her, so I think she enjoys some light camping. She likes LOOKING at the beach and walking on it when no one is there and hates it when there's more than a few people.

Hmm...! I can definitely imagine there being a cabin rental in upstate New York she got to go to as a teenager that she really enjoyed, and probably ends up taking her family on a short road trip to when she gets out of college and actually has her high paying job. It definitely doesn't happen often, but she would love being surrounded by nature and being disconnected from the world for a weekend.

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alright alright, one more picrew for the night

its mae in college! She doesn't have all those piercings anymore but she used to be quite the rebel! And then she had a kid and was like "oh shit I need to get my life together"

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Deeeeeeeeeeeep in my Mae feels. Thinking about her complex relationship to her son. About how all-consuming her grief is. How she descends deep into darkness.

Thinking about how despite being buried in all of that she stills come out the otherside stubbornly wanting to make a better world.

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🔮 for Mae!

I'll be honest, I looked through the whole list and read through stuff and none of it really spoke to me? I got... feelings on tarot and it kinda reinforced some of those feelings lmao. I prefer the deck my partner has because as much as the meanings are vague and broadly applicable, the art is beautiful and the way the people making the deck weaved myth, legend, and folklore to create more layered cards.

So! I messed around with their deck and got the Hanged Man of the major arcana and I liked it for her:

SLEEPING BEAUTY The Hanged Man ceases forward momentum to avoid disaster and instead favors reflection. Sleeping Beauty is a symbol of stasis; with the options of sleep or death, she chooses to wait for more favorable outcomes.

Upright: Suspension, restriction, sacrifice, readjustment, improvement

Reverse: Willfulness, useless sacrifice, rushing, thoughtlessness, martyrdom

(Honestly I like it more for Amy LMAO as far as the reverse meaning goes)

Mae's life is defined by being held in stasis. Being frozen for 200 years, [REDACTED] which is just this to a T, being stuck in the past by both the death of her mother and of her husband, losing herself in her work as a result of those deaths, often having to put her life or her principles on hold. She's always waiting for something. Which is funny when considering the things that she refuses to wait for, the things that usually make her impatient: her family.

Anyway, I'm still not satisfied but this is what I got!

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🌺💐☘

For Mae~

Questionnaire

🌺- Which family member(if any) is this oc closest to?

... Woof. She was the closest to her mom before her mother passed, and then to her twin sister, Lin. After she cut ties with her family when she moved out to Boston for college she became even closer to her in-laws, specifically to her mother-in-law who'd become a mother figure to her BEFORE she moved to Boston, but got even stronger when Mae had Ren (first kid).

Her mother-in-law would drive from New York to Boston to take care of baby Ren while Mae was still working her way through her PHD, and basically lived with them for five/six years. Mae and her husband Takeshi were already working constantly to pay for Mae's tuition, and Ren had NOT been on purpose. But one of Mae's life goals had been a mother, so she kept Ren making their lives harder in the process even if it was happy ;;

In the wasteland she loses almost all her family, except one whom she gets close to over time.

💐- Where is this oc's favorite place to relax?

Pfft, at home in her reading nook. She had the same god damn armchair for almost all of her adult life and would mend it as needed instead of getting a new one. Not because she couldn't afford it eventually, but because she gets very attached to the things she loves. Post-war at first it's a little shack/cabin that Leo and Preston build for her close to/in the vicinity of Sancutary by the river. Its her hideaway when everything gets too much. Epilogue is a bit of spoiler, but suffice to say her home in the epilogue is her favorite place in the world. She still goes to the shack to relax sometimes c:

☘- Does this oc have any piercings? Do they want any?

Her ears! She used to have her upper ears/cartilage pierced as well, back in college, but once she got into the "professional" sphere she only maintained her lobes. In the epilogue she gets them back c:

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Just thinking about Mae-

About how when I set out to make her my sosu she was 1) a different OC that I shoved in initially because I needed a sosu that wasn't the stand in I'd been working with for months and 2) my goal with her had been to make someone who'd react to her situation the way I thought someone should: to being an anxious mental break down mess.

At the time a lot of the sosu's I'd seen were all super cool badasses- which I loved for other people- but I'd yet to see someone who reacted to the situation... poorly? Who didn't have it quite together and had to really lean on other people to survive. (I've since seen other sosu's like this but I made Mae when I was still really new to the fandom.)

And then I kept fleshing her out and now- now she's much different and doesn't actually fulfill that initial goal anymore. Now it's a central mystery to her character- why she's the way she is and not more like how she "should be" (many reasons). I really like the way she's panned out even though it's not what I'd originally wanted and in a way I feel like Amy's taken up the mantle of "responding semi-realistically to the wasteland".

Amy's much more of a "audience" surrogate then the others merely due to the fact that I'm taking to heart the fact that all of this is new to her. Sure, she adapts quickly, but that's for survival. She's still losing her mind at every new revelation making for a story that will turn out VERY differently than all the others. While I'll be making some serious changes to plot pacing in the second half of Steelheart, her story changes the least from the canon material.

I'd argue that Mae (and the other Sosu ;3 because every protag in this series kind've comes in a pair) diverges the most, and that's because the Fallout 4 finale to the series will diverge the most from canon (as planned rn). Starting with the fact that there's four protagonists lmao. We'll see how I manage that ;;;;;

Still unsure who to pair Mae with and if she should end up with a wasteland ship at all. Her story is so unfocused on romance that it feels a little shoehorned in at this point, but also I feel like I want to see her be with someone new after Takeshi? Big shrug hours.

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For one (1) Ms. Ishikawa

What is their typical reaction to being insulted by someone they dislike? How likely are they to punch somebody in an act of anger?

What is their typical reaction to being insulted by someone they dislike?

Context is important for this one.

If they're working with her on the PAM Initiative she'll upset about it, but won't say anything. She'll complain about it to Indra (Dr. Ramarijan her friend/supervisor) MAYBE, but most likely to PAM lmao.

If its in the wasteland (like a douche in the Institute) she gives them the fucking mom glare and her cold tone and look alone minces through people lmao. She doesn't "clap back" but she does make them feel small. Otherwise she ignores them because she's really actually too old for this crap and doesn't care what a random dipshit thinks of her.

How likely are they to punch somebody in an act of anger?

Very VERY unlikely. Even in rebel young adult phase, Mae was never ever prone to violence. If she punches you out of anger you've done something miraculous: made her act violently on impulse. Her anger is usually much more cold and calculated. It simmers and festers. HOWEVER, if her children are involved she won't hesitate. Fuck her morals, fuck her principles, DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH HER KIDS OH MY GOD. She will be vicious. (Shaun is complicated. Shaun is very complicated.)

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For Mae, passionately: What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them? What character alignment would you consider your OC to be? What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

Questionnaire

What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

I kinda answered this in a post I just made, but Mae was originally conceived to be in short: a fucking mess. She still has all of mental illnesses and disability and what have you from when I first made her, but the ways those present has changed a lot. By the time she's being unfrozen in Vault 111 she's been through a lot already, and has a lot more experience of weariness making her more capable for what the wasteland has to throw at her. When I first made her she was thirty years old and still had stars in her eyes when the bombs dropped. Now that more obviously neurotic and starry-eyed Mae exists in the beginning of PAM Initiative. While beat down by the world she hasn't given up on it yet.

The Mae of 2287 gave up and had to find her reasons to live again, and she's not letting the world take one more fucking thing from her. So... she's a lot angrier, a lot more capable, and a lot more determine then when I first made her.

What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

God alignment is such a weird morality scale; pre-war she's definitely on the good scale and would've teetered around it. She doesn't follow the way because she thinks its right or because she actually wants to, but because now that she is a mother she won't put her family in danger of harm. The government will hurt her family if she doesn't comply, but she'll break the law if she has the opportunity and motive to. She already has as a young adult and was arrested for it. However her moral code is extremely strong and she KNOWS what she believes is right and wrong, but is constantly forced into breaking her own principles. So where does that leave her?

I think in "practice" she's technically Neutral Good, but in reality she's just a Chaotic Good whose being constrained by society. Once she gets into the wasteland I think that's especially true as her morals get loser by comparison, but thats mostly because the rules of game have changed- not because her morals did.

What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

If Mae stayed with General Atomics she and her family would've died in the war radically changing the entire world of my series. The events of Fallout NV and Fallout 4 in my canon would change to such a degree to be different stories altogether I'd say. As for her life? Well, it would've been happier up until the bombs dropped. Harder because she'd have less money to survive in a crumbling capitalist society with a fucked economy, but happier because she'd be able to spend her last ten years forging close connections with her family. She would've quietly revolutionized the robotics industry from behind a desk while her creations got credit taken away from her and given to someone else. She would've been angry, but kept her mouth shut and indulged in her passion works. She'd spend less time worrying and more time working on herself and her family. Maybe she would've eventually quit and started up her own small robotics company with a few colleagues from CIT. A simpler life.

If she'd still gone to work on Project Oracle but hadn't [REDACTED] she'd be much closer to the neurotic mess I'd first imagined, but weathered from her years of working with the DIA. I think it'd change how she treats the world she arrives in, but it wouldn't radically change her life- just the way she moves through it.

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WITH EVEN MORE PASSION 🍁🌳☁️

Questionnaire

🍁 What's this oc's favorite genre of movies/tv shows/books/etc?

Mae is a Class A Nerd(TM), so when she was a kid/tween she consumed anything that was remotely sci fi. Specifically, she'd adore Fallout's equivalent of Star Trek and Star Wars (yes, both) and would've read all of Ray Bradbury and the sci fi classics. She has very very big opinions on sci fi as a genre and many many critiques. If the cut off date for more "modern" media is after Neuromancer was published she has FEELINGS on it, and if cyberpunk exists in the Fallout universe (which feels complicated) she'd... have really mixed feelings on it.

Aka, she is a #1 Capitalism hater, so she would definitely vibe with the critiques of capitalism, but has complicated feelings with how it treats Japanese culture and women and- listen cyberpunk (Neuromancer) has some messy origins lmao no matter how much I love it.

As a teen she definitely was into fringe music, and there's just no way you can convince me that some punk music didn't arrive in the Fallout world. Punk music is so inherently political that OF COURSE it'd exist in the pre-war hellscape and my little baby girl scientist was definitely going to shows and expressing her anger through the music she listened to. This isn't in the question, but it does feel relevant.

On other side of her media interests, she loves Noir fiction! It comes with the giant asterisks all her interests do because you best believe she's very critical of all media she consumes, but she just LOVES a good mystery. Hilariously, I don't think she ever got into the shroud. She's not a big "super hero" kind've person.

🌳 Does this oc collect anything?

Plants- first houseplants when all she could afford was an apartment and then plants for the garden when she could have one in Sanctuary. She would also build model kits- usually of space ships or robots. She also loves a pretty broach or hairpin! Once the events of Fallout 4 are over she ends up creating a huuuge public library that houses... a lot. Not just books!

☁️ What is this oc's clothing style like?

Sweaters, coats, scarves. Soft, simple, yet refined/professional. Her favorite "bright" colors to wear would be purples and an accent of deep red, otherwise she keeps to greys, whites, blacks, and browns. She likes to covered but comfortable. Prefers pants over dresses. Isn't a fan of boots. Loves a pair of gloves for both function and fashion. She prefers antique jewelry or pieces that were handcrafted in someway. Prefers to shop secondhand if she can.

So... comfortable and classy?

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For Mae with passion! ☕: Favorite food(s) ☀ : Favorite season(s) ☽ : Favorite time of day ☂ : Favorite weather

So I'm 99% sure this is my partner who (very cutely) just sent me six asks (anonymously), but I'll just assume you are a stranger since. I don't know which ones they sent me and they aren't enlightening me except for one and I don't want to talk to a stranger like they're my partner lmao.

Questionnaire

☕: Favorite food(s)

Wine isn't a food but it was definitely one of the first one I thought of because of the coffee cup. In that case she loves a good dry red, which is actively pretty indicative of what she likes in foods. She doesn't like anything too sweet. Prefers salty, dry, or earthy flavors. Her comfort food is ramen; pre-war it was what her husband did best since he grew up working for and living above his family's ramen shop and it was where she went regularly for lunch and dinner her entire childhood. She's cried over so many bowls there. Post-war she's always getting power noodles from Takahashi because its the closest thing she has to come home.

However! Aside from comfort food she LOOOVES fish. She's always lived in a city close to the coast so she's very used to having fresh fist. She looooves crab, lobster, shrimp, scallops- you name it. Most of the time with butter, and often accompanied by bread in some variety. This does not change post-war.

☀ : Favorite season(s)

She loves every season aside from Summer (she hates the hit and humidity). She loves Spring for the flowers and bees and butterflies and loves tending to her plants/garden. She loves Fall for its weather, and the beautiful trees, and those peak cafe vibes. She loves Winter for the blankets of snow. If she HAD to choose one she'd choose Fall.

☽ : Favorite time of day

Hmm! This is tougher one. I don't think she has a strong favorite time of day, but she'd probably pick either early morning or late at night. She likes it when the world is quiet from people and loud with the world.

☂ : Favorite weather

At least a little bit cloudy with big fluffy clouds in the sky. A gentle breeze no matter which season. Loves a light rain and gentle snowfall.

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Character Profile: Mae Ishikawa, The Sole Survivor

Pre-War

Post-War

*Not featured: Scarring from being frozen, as well as misc. scars from general wasteland mishaps,

Full Name: Eleanora-Mae Ishikawa (Maiden Name; Hishiro)

Birthday: Spring of 2037

Legit just can’t find the day/month right now, but it could be May 11th. Will update later when I find it.

Age: Through the story she goes from 30 to 50+ (this goes from 10 years before the war to the years after it).

Family: (I’ll get all their names when I find them)

Takeshi Ishikawa; her husband and ultimate house husband. Used to be a firefighter and there’s a calendar to prove it. Childhood friends. Her first love, although they didn’t get together until adulthood.

Ren Ishikawa; she first child and her pride and joy. They’re incredibly intelligent, sassy, and ambitious. Also neuro-divergent like their mother. Is 17 when they get frozen. They’d just started college.

Father Hishiro; she takes after him as far as being more reserved, but also his patience. A very dedicated man if not a little weak-willed when compared to others in the family. Grief irrevecobly changed him. Was alive at the time the bombs drop.

Mother Hishiro; Mae’s grace, kindness, and ferocity come from two people and her mother is one of them. Endlessly patient and understanding of her daughter. A good person with a strong will. It’s what got her killed. Died shortly before/during the beginning of highschool.

Lin Hishiro; Mae’s twin sister and the more energetic of the two. Takes on the family business much to Mae’s distaste, and despite all the arguing they are die hard for each other.

Grandma Hishiro; the head of the family after her grandfather died, and acts with all the authority that grants her. A poised yet terrifying woman with a huge soft spot for her family.

History: Mae grew up in Queens, New York alongside her twin sister as second generation Japanese-Americans. Her family moved during mass immigration from Japan to New York and settled there due to family friends, the Ishikawa’s, haven already settled.

Their lives were hard, but they enjoyed a slightly better life-style by taken advantage of corruption to protect their own little pocket of the neighborhood. Back door deals with corrupt cops and the local mafia made the Hishiro’s the leaders of their part of the neighborhood, a fact Mae and her sister remained blissfully unaware of until the death of their mother. Their mother was killed by a young hot shot, and their Grandmother went on a warpath.

In the end, the Hishiro’s ended gaining a lot of power and influence in the area, and built a successful business as a front to more illegal activities. Mae, ever the morally righteous, left home at 18 and swore off contact with her family. She was able to get scholarships and pay her own way through college and university by working and eventually promising herself to General Atomics. She had a child and got married her first year into grad school and then graduated the Commonwelath Institute of Technology in 2066 with a PHD in AI Theory and minor in pyschology. She worked briefly at General Atomics before the DIA recruited her for The P.A.M Initiative where she worked for the next ten years.

Interests: Her hobbies/interests include botany/gardening, chess, jigsaw puzzles, and reading/watching any detective noire (this includes the Silver Shroud).

SPECIAL:

Strength - 4

Perception - 10

Endurance - 4

Charisma - 6

Intelligence - 10

Agility - 8

Luck - 5

Combat Abilities:

Generally speaking, she’s a non-combatant relying on other skills to get out of a bad situation. However, if the need arises she’s good with pistols, some rifles, and laser weaponry.

If I had to pick some perks for her I would say her main ones would be: Awareness, Local Leader, Hacker, Science!, Robotics Expert, and Sneak.

Comments: My sosu has changed a lot since I first started this blog and here she is now in all her updated glory. There’s a lot left out since her story is on-going on ao3. Like her history is such a skimmed version of events and doesn’t really get to go into the fleshed out nuances of everything. Hope to post more about her in the future!

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Earlier on in the story! Soon after the memory den. Just a couple of vintages dancing around the truth.

Characters: Nick Valentine & Mae Ishikawa (Sosu)

"How you feeling, doll? What's on your mind?" He hoped, he really hoped, that she'd take the chance to tell him now, but that heart of hers was locked up tight. Secrets upon secrets that she was careful to only edge around. It was never quite a lie if she simply omitted certain parts.

Her breath came out in steamy puffs of air, scarf pulled tight around her, and she fidgeted quietly with the ring hanging on her neck, "Worried about the mnemonic impression Kellogg left on you. I'm not sure if Dr. Amari can do anything about it, but I'd like to keep an eye on it in case anything happens again."

'Nicely done, Ms. Ishikawa.'

She was side-stepping her own feelings entirely to focus on him. Not he thought she was being disingenuous about her concern, but he knew that couldn't be what was at the forefront of her mind.

"Of course, given that the job is over... I don't want to assume that you'll want to keep accompanying me." She said, voice softer and sadder than she most likely intended.

Her expressions were occasionally difficult to read, but here she was plain as day and she probably didn't even know it. Eyes a little wet and downcast, shoulders dropped in a quiet sulk, and lips offering a smile that held nothing but melancholy. It was silly, the way he could feel coolant start pumping a little faster, as something he'd already known came to fully greet him as a thought. She'd miss him. She wanted him around. He could feel his 'nervous system' attempt to simulate the feeling of heat rising to his cheeks, and even if it was just a memory with a ghost of a feeling, he could pretend for a moment it wasn't.

Ms. Mae Ishikawa was a sweet woman behind the locked heart, and one that didn't love nearly as carefully as she may have liked to think. Given her fondness of bots he wasn't surprised she gained an affinity for him, but he guessed that it wasn't quite the same mother hen affection she gave to Codsworth. There was an ache in his chest that wasn't really there.

Had she grown to like him, or the ghost of the man that occupied him? Yet another one of the many things to attribute to the man he'd stolen from.

Yet, even still, he wasn't the kind of man to leave a dame like this on her own. He smiled at her, as gently as he could, and said, "If I remember correctly, Mrs. Ishikawa, I've still yet to deliver either of your children back home to you. This case is still open. So, if you haven't gotten tired of me yet, I'd like to see this through to the end."

Owlish surprise, and then a gentle giddy smile, "Of course I'd love to have you, Mr. Valentine."

When she looked up at him like that it was hard to remember his place in her life, and who he was, and what he was. She was a widow grieving her husband, after that she was a mother looking for her stolen children, and then and even then he was just the synth detective without a real heart, or a real self to call his own.

And what right did he have to be the one to let go of Jenny? It wasn't. He didn't have any right to even consider Mae as anything other than a friend when he was wearing the stolen mask of someone else.