#t: tftb

[aliensmoothie]

I WPULD. LOVW TO KNOW SO MUCHABOUT BALONEY . i think the fact that he's in the bg3 universe is amusing to me . i hope hes been getting up to shenanigans . i love that he outdrank some guy

HE HAS IN FACT BEEN UP TO TONS OF SHENANIGANS . him and ast*rion are on slightly less thin ice than usual which maybe doesnt bode well for baloney's moral compass atm but he is pleased to be getting more info abt the man at any rate . he gave shadowheart a flower and it reminded me of the flower scene from tftb and i cried a little . i dont think baloney has romantic feelings toward shadowheart . but it was cute nonetheless HER LITTLE ' HA JUST KIDDING ' AFTER SAYING IT WAS POISONOUS WAS SO CUTE . i was pretty neutral on beloved shart at first but now i belove her alot . he has still not stopped travelling with wyll they are besties forever to me . baloney is like wyll's pet decrepit old man who has mostly good intentions and is only sometimes overly violent .ALSO FUN FACT HE HAS OUTDRANK PEOPLE BEFORE HE DID IT IN A DND CAMPAIGN I PUT HIM IN . he ALMOST outdrank the whole party . but the ( i think ) warlock just barely beat him .

also . coughs . let me go dig up the summary i wrote about his backstory . grins completely insane .

ok . smiles . SO . Bloney is from a town called bone-dry ( which also has it's own whole lore google doc but thats another story ) which in short is a small town surrounded by it's own graveyard in the middle of a salt desert . he is the middle child of . like 13 ? i dont have the number written down anywhere but i think that is right . anyways he's somewhere in the middle . he has always been just a very strange child . standoffish and always smiling at inappropriate times and not very good at talking with people , and spends most of his time reading whatever reading material passes through the town through trade , and then cataloguing all of it . HE ALSO catalogues any stories he can get out of the travelers who pass through ., and anything the people in town tell him . that said . he is standoffish and people in town are just kind of made Uncomfortable by him . so this effort does not ever bear much fruit for him . can youtell i am projecting my autism experiences onto him BAD . one day when he is a fairly young adult , his eldest brother dies under somewhat mysterious circumstances . on that same day , baloney finds himself lost out in the desert , and almost dies too . all he remembers is wandering , trying to find his way back home for hours and hours , and as the sun beats down at him he collapses and goes unconcious . he wakes up to a raven pecking at his head , and when he wakes up it starts to fly away , but stops and lands a few feet away and looks back at him . and when he follows it , it leads him back to town . from then on , he does not remember how he ended up wandering through the desert , and he does not remember that his eldest brother is dead . they never find his body , and with nothing to bury they just erect a gravestone in their vast graveyard with nothing underneath it . this whole experience combined with baloney's newfound memory issues give him a . warped view of death . where he never fully believes someone is dead , just missing , sick , or is generally in some kind of denial about it . ( BG3 BALONEY I THINK THIS GOES ANOTHER WAY WHERE HE BECOMES SORT OF OBSESSED WITH DEATH . though i dont know much about the durge stuff yet SO we'll see . we are talking about canon baloney for the most part here anyways though . if the durge stuff doesnt spell completely otherwise there should be some overlap still smile ) ALSO since that day , a small number of ravens have been appearing in town , which tend to folow baloney . or maybe the other way around . at any rate , baloney find that the ravens are most interested when he tells them tales of the dead ( or in his mind the sick or the missing ), which starts when he talks to them about his eldest brother . over the years he spends nearly all his time combing through the town's graveyard , and telling whatever stories he knows at the dead . he gets *really good* at piecing together stories of these people's lives from what limited information he can get from the rest of town . and without him knowing , the raven following him and listening to his stories were a weak manifestation of the raven queen , who was over time building him up to be her cleric . after many years he notices the ravens have started flying away from the town and not returning . at this point he is familiar enough with the ravens that their message is clear : he needs to leave town and seek out more knowledge of the dead . his one wish being to figure out how to heal these " sick " people , to talk to them and find their stories from the source . all of that building up to him being a death domain cleric LARGELY FOCUSED on necromancy . smile . also i have been playing with the idea that he is the one who killed his oldest brother . my only roadblock being that im not sure Why he would have done it . alas . it is a neat concept !

[pandoranrabbit]

"I...I wonder how my aunt is. Once I joined Hyperion I barely got to talk to her. And when I got promoted the boss made it pretty clear I didn't have the time to talk to family. Is she even alive anymore?"

[andaxay]

Preservation of Self

My entry for February’s @telltalemonthlychallenge. February’s theme: Black History Month.

Hyperion has been cutthroat since the day she accepted the offer of employment. Yvette does what she thinks she needs to. To thrive. To survive.

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

One last coffee before they left.

Secreted away in a quiet room, away from prying eyes that would question why Vaughn the mild-mannered accountant had an important looking Hyperion briefcase chained to his arm. Best to avoid such questions.

"You're really doing this?" Yvette wrapped one slender leg around the other as she sat, sipping a latte, looking from one best friend to another with a skeptical eyebrow raised.

"Oh, we are doing this," Rhys leaned forward with a smug smile and raised eyebrow. Vaughn rubbed the back of his neck as he stared, wide-eyed, at the table in front of them, perhaps questioning every life decision he'd ever made that had led him to this point. "We are doing this so much. Who else is going to screw over Vasquez?"

"Vasquez is more than capable of screwing himself over, given enough time," Yvette said dryly, folding her arms.

"And how long will that take? Are you willing to wait for years for that to happen?"

"He might get eaten by a skag the second he sets foot on Pandora," Vaughn chimed in, wearing an expression that said 'and the same could happen to us'.

"And he might not," Rhys countered, "in which case, enjoy being middle management saps for the next ten to fifteen years. I, however, am not willing to clean up Vasquez's damn trash three times a day, just so he can drink in how much power he has."

"Fair point," Vaughn conceded and Yvette nodded solemnly.

"Well, then," she said after taking the last sip of her latte, "you have everything you need." She paused, looking at both of them. A twist in her gut. "Good luck. Try not to die - there's an awful lot of paperwork to fill out if you do."

"We'll miss you, too."

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

Vasquez's furious shouting reached Yvette's ears before the man himself stormed into her office. She steeled herself, remaining cool and calm, tapping away at her keyboard as he stalked up to her desk.

"Mr. Vasquez?" Polite, despite her gut curling at the sight of him. Slimeball.

"Yvette!" Vasquez glared down at her, breathing heavily, before he appeared to relax slightly, stepping into the persona he often reserved for buttering up management. "Yvette. Just the lady I was looking for." He stepped around her desk and sat on the edge of it, looming over her. "Urgent business. Confidential, of course. Management... I, need to meet with Rhys. Only he, ah, seems to be difficult to pin down." Vasquez stared down at her, his eyes burning. She stared right back, innocently, collected. "You had lunch together, shared plans for the afternoon..."

"As far as I'm aware, he's working," Yvette offered coolly. "I haven't seen him, or spoken to him, since lunch."

"Oh? Working on his next eridium mining contract? Or, maybe, stealing ten million dollars of Hyperion's money and taking it to a Pandoran named August to buy a Vault Key?" Vasquez folded his arms as he leaned in slightly. Trying to intimidate her. Yvette had dealt with much worse in her time at Hyperion.

"I have never heard of August and, like I said, I assumed Rhys had gone back to work after lunch," Yvette said firmly, "so, I'm afraid I can't help you."

"Trying to cover for him? Or, have you washed your hands of him already?" Vasquez leered down at her. "He'll be so happy to hear it when we pick him up and drag his soon-to-be-dead ass into a cell for stealing Hyperion property." He smiled, an ugly, sinister curve of a thing that didn't reach his eyes. "Speaking of which, exactly how did he get hold of the money? He isn't an accountant, doesn't have access to funds. Unless... he had help. If I recall, you're both good friends with the man who just happens to manage valuable Hyperion funds and assets. What was his name again? Vinny? Vance?"

Yvette remained poker-faced, raising her eyebrows slightly, questioningly. A vein in Vasquez's temple was twitching.

"I won't deny that I'm friends with them," she said calmly, sitting back into her chair and folding her arms, "but that's all I can tell you. Whatever this is? You're asking the wrong person."

"Mmm-hmm," Vasquez fixed her with a firm glare. "So, that's how it's going to be. Alright, then." He stood and turned to leave, but paused. "I would think about where your loyalties lie, Yvette. Hyperion can set you up for life." He turned again to face her. She remained impassive. "And it can also end it. We can trace everything. Think about that, while you decide your future."

She only allowed herself to exhale once the heavy blast doors closed behind him. Some chewing of her thumbnail, the only show of anxiety she would allow herself.

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

Rhys and Vaughn had lost the money. They were as good as dead.

Hyperion didn't yet know. It didn't matter. They would.

Rhys and Vaughn would either die on Pandora, or die the minute they stepped foot on Helios.

Climbing the ranks of Hyperion was a colossal challenge that very, very few could ever hope to rise to. The toxic culture, knives in so many backs - sometimes literally. Yvette had dared to hope, when she and Rhys and Vaughn had become friends. One person alone couldn't even begin to chip away at the Hyperion machine, but the three of them, working together?

It was over. It had been silly to think it could have happened in the first place.

Her office phone rang. The caller ID read 'Hugo Vasquez'.

She sighed heavily, then answered it.

"The situation has changed. Meet me in my office. Ten minutes." He hung up before she'd even said a word.

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

"Your involvement in the stealing of ten million dollars can be... erased, Yvette. Nobody higher up needs to know. ID logs can be manipulated. Traces erased."

She folded her arms. "... If?"

Vasquez was the most serious-looking she'd ever seen him.

"I'll be honest. We need the data in Rhys's systems far more than ten million dollars."

Systems. Like Rhys wasn't a walking, living human being.

"Let's just say that Hyperion is willing to pay a lot to recover this data. To the person, or people, responsible for recovering it" Vasquez folded his arms as he leaned against his desk. Behind him, Pandora was framed nicely within the window of his office. What had once been Henderson's office, before he'd been... terminated.

Henderson had been a racist prick, she didn't miss him, mourn him or even feel sorry for him, but it was a nice reminder about what Vasquez was capable of.

"So," Vasquez continued, "you help me, I help you. You track Rhys, keep tabs on his location and give me all of the information you know. And I'll make sure you're not implicated in anything... unsavoury. And, give you a cut of the reward."

Yvette stood, calm on the outside and reeling on the inside.

Her best friends.

Her best friends who were likely dead regardless.

Likely. Ha. They were toast.

Could she live with being an active part in their demise, though?

Vasquez glared, impatient.

"You make a very compelling argument, Vasquez," Yvette plastered a snakelike smile on her face and part of her died within. "You have a deal."

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

She gasped as the cold water she'd scooped and thrown into her face hit her skin. The swanky bathroom of her cushy Helios apartment was dimly lit, but she could still see every feature of her face in the mirror. Every line of the troubled expression marring her features.

Vasquez had gone down to Pandora to find Rhys and Vaughn. On the back of information that she had given to him.

Rhys and Vaughn were going to die anyway.

Assuming Vasquez was successful and brought Rhys, or whatever remained of him, back to Helios. The next steps were glaringly obvious. Vasquez would claim all of the reward for himself. Yvette would be exposed, her role in the disappearance of ten million dollars and two intrepid, naïve Hyperion employees with it, one of whom was hiding some incredibly important program in his head, apparently.

She'd be thrown out of an airlock the second Vasquez stepped back onto Helios.

This was about survival, now.

Yvette had quietly been gathering evidence on Vasquez's involvement in this mess. Bribery, incompetence. She was ready to strike. Ready to claim the reward for herself, to survive something else that Hyperion had to throw at her.

But she had to play along, for now.

Which meant leading Vasquez right to Rhys and Vaughn.

Maybe Vasquez would lose. Maybe her best friends would outsmart him, work their way out and escape into the sunset. Yvette couldn't see it happening. Much as she loved them, they'd be hopeless in any kind of fight-or-flight response.

As much as she had loved them.

Because now she'd struck a deal with the devil and anyone who truly cared for their friends wouldn't serve them to their deaths on a silver platter.

It was them, or her.

Welcome to Hyperion.

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

Vasquez had rolled up in some old, hulking build-it-yourself spaceship that would have looked more at home in a scrapyard and, what was more, had failed to bring Rhys, or any part of him, back with him.

To say Yvette was furious would be an understatement.

She'd stormed into his office, her office, ready to blast him to hell for failing to uphold his part of the deal. Shafting them both, not that she cared about what would happen to him, following his unauthorised trip to Pandora. Without the data in Rhys' system, he was as good as dead anyway.

Something was missing. Vasquez had been unreachable for weeks after landing on Pandora, which had driven her mad. She'd been feeding him information in all that time and he couldn't even be bothered to send her a 'thank you'. But now he was back, something was... off.

Not... not in a bad way, honestly. The malice she normally associated with him was lacking. It was disarming, but Yvette didn't have time or resources to worry about such a thing. What did it matter, in the grand scheme of things?

"You had one job," she spat out, glaring daggers at him. He was... strangely vulnerable?

"I'm on it," he said quietly. "I just need more time."

"Time's up, Vasquez. It's over. I'm calling management."

"Don't," he said, desperate yet calm, collected. "It will only end badly, and not just for me. You think I don't have evidence to back myself up? And so, so much of it points to you, Yvette." Hurt. What a strange thing to witness in his expression.

"Then I guess we're at an impasse." She folded her arms, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I can fix this. I know what to do. To save both our asses."

Yvette remained silent. Like Vasquez cared about what happened to her.

Still, they were stuck. Play along for now, then shaft him later, once she knew what this plan of his was.

"You have the rest of the working day to fix this," Yvette snapped, "and then I'm handing you in. Consequences be damned."

"I don't think you mean that," he said, voice low, almost deadly.

"You don't know anything about me," she countered, equally as deadly. "Get out of my office."

To her enormous surprise, he left.

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

The escape pod rattled unsettlingly as it plummeted to Pandora. Yvette stared, dully, out at the rapidly approaching planet.

She should be dead. Maybe that would have been the better alternative.

Rhys' face as she'd gone for the escape pod... As he'd told her to go to the escape pod.

She'd sold him out and he'd repaid her by saving her life. Essentially sealing his own death warrant as he'd done so. Even after her pathetic attempts at an explanation and apology while she'd been locked in the cell.

She squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her fists until the nails drew blood. Helios was breaking apart behind her. There was no way he'd survive.

Ha. Hadn't she written him off, anyway?

She didn't deserve a friend like him. She didn't deserve friends at all. Because, as it had become blindly obvious throughout the last few weeks, she was more than willing to sell them out to save her own skin.

Maybe the pod would crash with such a force that she'd be torn apart upon impact.

At least it would put an end to the burning, lead guilt that weighed down every cell in her body.

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

"Thanks, Vaughn."

"Don't mention it."

The emergency blanket felt scratchy against her skin. The soup in the bowl in her lap could barely qualify as 'warm'. It was more than she deserved.

"Why are you doing this for me?"

Vaughn stopped in his tracks, turned to face her. Exhausted. Dark circles underlined his eyes and aged him well beyond his twenty-seven years.

"You went through hell, too. I just... want to help."

She didn't know what she could say. Apologies were worthless.

"Eat the soup, Yvette, it will help."

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

"To... surviving."

"I'll drink to that."

"Mmm-hmm."

Three glasses clinked together in the candlelit room, one of the more... intact ones that had mostly survived the fall from orbit.

"I'm so glad you're both ok," Rhys said quietly, staring into his chipped glass filled with an unspecified alcohol.

Yvette stared into her own glass. Both. Even after everything.

"Rhys-"

His head snapped up and mismatched eyes met her own. Alarmed, almost. He knew what was coming.

"Yvette, you don't have to-"

"I do," she said firmly. Vaughn glanced between the two of them. "I'm sorry. I really am." She sighed heavily. "I guess... I was just trying to survive. I was scared." She scratched at the side of her head. A small scar had formed there, a remnant of her crash-landing into Pandora. She felt the smooth texture underneath her finger. "It was a shitty way of doing it. You guys were - are - the best friends I've ever had. I should have done better."

They were both silent for a moment, exchanging glances.

"We've all experienced Hyperion," Vaughn finally chimed in solemnly. "'Surviving' was about all we could do."

Rhys made a noise of agreement. "You think we didn't do terrible things, too?"

"Still..."

"Yvette, it's ok," Rhys smiled at her. "It hurt, at the time. I won't lie. But I also know what it's like to be in fear for your life."

"Yeah. Who at Hyperion didn't do something shitty at some point? It was practically in the job description." Vaughn also smiled.

"I guess we all learned something," Rhys continued quietly and Vaughn nodded in agreement. "But, that's what it's all about, I guess. I think as long as we acknowledge where we go wrong, and do something to be better... No reason we can't be ok, right?"

A weight, a terrible, oppressive weight that she'd carried for so long, now. Some of it eased.

"I'll drink to that," she offered, smiling, and the three clinked their glasses together again.

[froglob]

it…them…

[yandere-plague]

[Yandere Borderlands Characters]

What they are like before and after kidnapping you part 4

// SPOILERS for the entirety of New TFTB , obsession , forced relationships , kidnapping

Apologies if the NTFTB characters are wierd, they are so fucking hard to write for and are honestly useless at everything. I used the colour purple ALOT bruh.

Athena

Borderlands 1

For this you are a girl sos.

After Atlas tricked her into killing her sister, I feel like she would have some sort of resentment to other women.

If you look anything like her sister she'll feel obligated to keep you safe. Following you around like a lost puppy.

Best way of knocking you out?

This can go two ways.

She'll ask the Vault Hunters to kidnap you.

They don't question it, after all all they want is loot, and getting paid.

Or

If this takes place before that, she'll make a small hideout for you both.

She doesn't know why she wants to protect you, maybe you look like her sister? Or are you too weak to survive on your own?

She coddles you relentlessly, never letting you out of her sight.

She may be cold, but that doesn't stop her from caring.

If you're trying to and or escaped?

She's trained to handle escapees, mostly with execution mind you, but doesn't mean she can't knock you out easily.

The Bandit who kills Bandits!

Nisha Kadam

She isnt shown to really care about people, but deep down, she does.

She hired a deputy a gun-point, through the messages listed by him he's goddamn afraid of her.

You either meet her during B2 as the sherrif of Lynchwood, or before / during the Pre-Sequel.

Because of space I'm only writing for Borderlands 2, send a request if you want me to do the pre sequel :)

You came to Lynchwood to survive. The only way to survive on Pandora is to become the very thing that tries to kill you. Bandits.

Lynchwood seemed just the place for you. Enough to survive and the hint of still humanity with it.

Best way of knocking you out?

Knocking you out? Nonono you're seriously denying the best thing of your life?

All she has to do is point a gun at you, and anyone will do what she says.

What? You still don't want to?

Well then, hope you enjoyed being whipped until you pass out from the pain!

"Hehe, you're cute. Real cute. Now come on, I'm making you my Under-sherrif. Now don't worry about working or anything, just make sure your face is still pretty, and everything is going to be fine."

If you're trying to and or escaped?

How. The. Fuck.

She always keeps an eye on you.

But let's say you slip through the cracks.

Some ex-vault hunters want to kill Nisha, you want to get out of here.

Win win.

After the whole eridium train, the bank bust, she is pissed at them. (and you)

A show down at dawn

Anu

Obsessive + delusional

A woman who puts life before her very own.

Best way of knocking you out? She abhors any sort of violence, but if its for your own safety she will have to knock you out, either hitting you with the device or other, much cruel methods.

If it takes place up on the Atlas base, she physically can't do anything.

Thank god that Rhys is there, honestly your only hope is that he can fire that bitch.

If it takes place on prometha, ohh boy, you are staying with her or the group. Mostly in Frans Frogurt.

If you're trying to and or escaped?

at the end of the game, everyone has acheive their dreams, Anu is moving to Eden-6. Octavio has his own show, and Fran... just runs her shop.

But you? This entire time all you've thought about was freedom. It was everything you wanted.

Every exploit, every opportunity is spent trying to kill or get away from her. Even trying to work with Tediore.

But Susan doesn't care, sort of.

She cares about getting the shard, but as soon as she does she turns on you.

Instead of Octavio, she uses the shard on you.

Dead Alive Dead Alive Dead Alive...

Suddenly you awake in a cell, nobody around except Tediore guards.

Susan betrayed you, you betrayed the group. Is there any hope for you now?

After the whole shard inside her thing you except her to be semi-mad like the others, but she isnt.

"I- I'm sorry for being so protective of you, but we need you in this group, let's put this behind us yes?"

Very wierd for her, you don't trust her, yet.

You had a stupid idea at the end, taking the shards for your own.

You grabbed the shard out of Susan's hand as she tried to use it on herself.

"What are you doing?!" Susan yelled, now only holding the red shard, dropping in onto the floor instantly.

"Im getting out of here, even if it kills me in the process of whatever the hell is going to happen."

You stabbed yourself in the heart with the shard, the nearby veins turning green before fading to its natural hue.

"Give me my other half." 'You' demanded.

"Why do you want to kill them?" A wierd voice in your head.

"Because she's kidnapped me several times, she murdered, or hired contracts on people who have even just spoken to me! She's insane."

"But that does protect life, your life, above all others."

"What the fuck?! Do you even listen to yourself? -elves?"

"I cannot alow this."

The shard exited your body, you fell to the floor in complete and utterly agony.

You were alive, but not free...

If it takes place on Atlas. You're fine! Rhys will help! Probably.

"Uh, sir? (Y/n) has not shown up to work again."

"What? Gosh dangit, send them in."

You walk in, looking at Anu with fear.

"Uh, Sir?"

"You feeling alright (y/n)? Whats up?"

"Can we talk about this, privately? Without Doctor Dhar? I mean, no offence, uh."

"Absolutely not-"

"I adhere to employee privacy, please doctor Dhar, leave immediately."

"Im going to keep you with me, somehow." She muttered under her breath, before leaving.

Octavio

Obsessive + delusional

His friends are the key, and his lock.

This kid wants to be on Dirty 30, the best (and most popular) echonet issue ever!

You'd either have to be in Dirty 30 or know someone in it, like Bivington Bradwick.

Or realistically for him, some promethan nobody.

Best way of knocking you out? His friends, Diamond Danielle can either put a tranquilliser dart in her sniper or Radon can 'carefully' explore nearby you to make you pass out.

When he has you, he had like no idea what to do next. He doesn't plan that far does he?

If you're trying to and or escaped?

Escape... from what? I fucking hate this guy I give up wiwbwiw

[pandoran-box-blog]

// Tbh, August would make a much better strip club proprietor than simply a bar owner.  Who has a bouncer just to enter a bar?  Granted, I know why in the context of TFTB and he is mostly using the bar as mostly a front for his black market deals, but honestly, if he has the funds to expand, that should be something he should be looking into.  It would also make him more money outside of his deals.  

Only problem, it would require a lot more staff and knowing how un-trusting and paranoid August is, hiring that many people would be a nightmare for him.  At the Purple Skag, he had a total of like two other people on staff besides himself.    

[omoghouls]

I'm sorry but can u please tag your tftb/borderlands?

Heck I can sure as heck try, I'll tag it as "T" ♡

[pandoranrabbit]

" 'Workers have rights. The rights to shut the fuck up' was something I heard more than once workin' for Hyperion. Always muttered under the breath of the higherups. That was funny, seein' how many times you could hear people begging to be given forgiven for the smallest things. You didn't usually see them around the next day."

[pandoranrabbit]

"Never thought I'd say this, but I miss the voice over the comms. Pandora is so...well, not quiet, but it feels so foreign. I don't belong down here. Maybe if I go back I could earn my job back?"

[pandoranrabbit]

"I can't get rid of my coat. It's already gotten me shot at but I can't get rid of it. If I do, that means..." Rabbit shakes his head. Even with the mask it's obvious he's holding back something. "People can try to kill me all they want 'cause'a the Hyperion logo but this is important to me."

[pandoranrabbit]

"After the boss died, I got kinda thrown around jobs at Hyperion and it was so damn stupid. Oh yeah, put the freakin' sharpshooter down back to his old job. Yeah that went real well. At least I got put back up where I oughta be."