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itsbopp · 2 years

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What If: You Were a Member of the Brotherhood of Steel - Fallout 4 | Headcanon

SUMMARY: How would Cait, Curie, and Piper react to you being a part of the Brotherhood of Steel?

WARNINGS: Lewdness from Cait, threats of violence, general crudeness (probably), voicing judgement towards a group of people.

WORD COUNT: 1578

CAIT

Honestly? She digs that. It’s clear that the Irish lass isn’t the most fond of synths, no matter how many roam around in your settlements, making it their personal goal to help out as much as possible. She doesn’t like those robotic abominations, and since BOS doesn’t either, they’re automatically on her good side. Although, even if she shares the same opinion when it comes to synths and eradicating them, she thinks that you would be a better leader than Elder Maxson. He’s pompous, doesn’t often like to keep an open mind when it comes to things other than robots and his hatred for them, and he assumes way too much for her liking. So, she thinks you’d fit the role much better.

“I don’t know how that man is even a leader. Everytime you talk to him, it always makes me wanna punch him square in the jaw because of how arrogant he is.”

“Cait. Please behave.” You sighed and looked at her, your expression showing exhaustion, considering she had complained about the leader many times before.

The redhead looked your way and furrowed her eyebrows in subtle defense, “You can’t tell me ya don’t agree.”

“I do, but, y’know… shush. I don’t want to possibly lose my job,” you grumbled, which earned an offended frown from your partner. You’d apologize for telling her what to do later…

Being involved with a group who have similar ideals as her isn’t the only thing she likes about them. When it comes to the uniforms, she won’t lie and say that she doesn’t love seeing you wear that tight-fitting Brotherhood of Steel outfit. Listen, it’s not her fault that the clothing helps accentuate your figure and highlight parts of your body that make her green eyes linger for longer than they should. For once, it’s not her accusing you of staring at her butt, but the other way around. Although, sometimes she’ll try her hardest to make it seem as if she wasn’t, and other times, well… just hope that there’s a room nearby, unless you like the thrill of other people possibly catching the both of you in a vulnerable position.

“Cait, people are near…!” You pushed her hands away from your hips as she tried to press herself against your back. All while you were working on your power armor, too, which definitely derailed you from actually completing the task. You were just thankful that not a lot of people were around.

Like somewhat of a leech, she quickly moved close to you again, her palms attaching themselves to your waist. “Well, darlin’, then you might want to find us a room to hide in. I don’t think I can keep my hands to myself,” she whispered into your ear. A shiver went down your spine, as her hands inched lower and squeezed your hips once more.

CURIE

They’re probably the only faction that she despises, other than the Institute. She is not a naturally hateful person, but these people seem to be one of the few exceptions. How could someone so quickly cut to the assumption that all synths are mindless machines that want to do nothing but kill and wreak havoc? To put it simply, she doesn’t like the fact that you’re a part of the Brotherhood of Steel. It’s nice that you’re not like them and keep an open mind when it comes to whether or not a certain synth is bad, but does that really make the situation better? Not really. If you care about her enough, then chances are, you’ll probably end up leaving them and settling down with the Railroad instead, or some other faction that accepts synths.

“What will you do now, mon amour?” the French synth questioned softly as she followed you out of the Boston Airport. Her eyes couldn’t help but fall on the backpack you were carrying, and a subtle twinge of guilt hit her stomach.

A shrug came from you, along with a thoughtful hum. “Move on, find a different faction that’s accepting of synths. I heard the Railroad is the perfect place for that.” You slowed down suddenly and glanced over your shoulder to give the woman a warm smirk, before you lifted a hand away from the strap of your backpack and held it out for her to take it. You weren’t mad, and the simple gesture and expression showcased that, which allowed the robot to relax and reciprocate the action.

Although she finds her faux heart malfunctioning when you show off fighting skills you learned after being in the Brotherhood of Steel for so long, she still doesn’t find herself appreciating the group in any way. They’re evil, and in her eyes, practically downright barbaric to so quickly murder a robot that just wants to be free and live as if they’re an actual human being. She doesn’t see the harm in that, and she finds herself actively pondering, often, on why exactly Elder Maxson and his people think differently. She can understand having to take out a synth that is trying to hurt them, but when said synth is innocent and they’re just… murdered? No, she can’t begin to understand where these monsters are coming from.

“Why must zat man hold so much hatred towards us? I don’t understand…” Curie was busy pacing back and forth inside the small room you had bought for the night with the last bit of caps you had left. Her emotions were still new to her, but the one she was currently feeling, frustration, was something she became well-acquainted with after meeting Maxson.

“It’s hard to get someone as stubborn as Arthur to understand that his stance on synths is a bit ignorant. I wish I could help him understand, but I can’t. He’s dead set on his beliefs, and there’s nothing anyone can do to change them.” It sounded like you had rehearsed what you said, but with a quick glance from your companion, it was clear that it was diarrhea of the mouth, and you were just saying what had been on your mind for quite a while.

PIPER

This woman is not at all a fan. Like Curie, she is not very fond of the Brotherhood of Steel, but her dislike towards them is mainly because of the fact that they seem to think they’re hot shit, and they also seem way too intense for her liking. Of course, you’re an exception. She thinks you’re a sweetheart, but that’s what surprised her so much when you told her you were a part of their team. How could you: someone so kind-hearted, loving, and selfless, join up with a group of people that only want to kill machines and anything else that isn’t considered human, or on their side? As far as she’s concerned, you’re not with them because you have the same ideals, and you’re only there because you got free power armor.

“They’re useful, even if their views and opinions aren’t exactly shed in the most positive light,” you said as you walked down the Prydwens upper deck corridor, heading over to where your personal suit of power armor was.

“Why join people you don’t agree with, though? I know you’re not the type to follow others, Blue. You lead. You lead the Minutemen, as well as all those other factions and settlements, so why stay and refuse to stand up against something you don’t believe in?” Piper was quick to jog up to your side and look at you with a furrowed, tense expression that was full of confusion. She awaited some sort of response, but all she got was the reaction of you flickering your eyes towards her quickly, before moving your attention down to the ground, clearly struck by her words.

A lot of your conversations really just consisted of Piper shedding her discontent towards them. Overtime, it got to a point where you honestly started to second guess your loyalty there, and it wasn’t because of some manipulation tactic from your companion or anything, either. The perks of having gear and weapons and ammo was nice, but was it worth it, considering you were with people who didn’t have all the same morals as you? Sure, you could compromise or just not see eye to eye on certain things and leave the topic of said thing alone, but did that suddenly make it better? You also didn’t want to start putting your relationship at risk, solely because you were wanting to stay with people that had things you probably could find elsewhere if you looked hard enough.

“Listen, Blue. I’m not telling you or asking you to leave the Brotherhood of Steel, but just think about what they stand for. Is that something you want to be a part of?” Piper asks, before continuing as she reaches out and takes a hold of your hand. “You know I’ll support you, Y/n, no matter what. But I just want to make sure that this is something you feel confident in giving your loyalty to.”

“I… I don’t know, Piper. I need time to think. About the brotherhood, about what I’m doing, and if it's something I genuinely want to be involved in.” Your hand stayed glued to hers after you squeezed it. In response, she gave you a small, gentle smile, before giving your palm a soft squeeze back.

“Like I said, Blue. I’ll support you. Take your time.”

#cait fallout 4 x reader #curie fallout 4 x reader #piper wright x reader #fallout 4 #fallout 4 x reader

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theggning · 3 years

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I Hate the Alternate Ending of Blind Betrayal, and Here's Why!

DISCLAIMER THE FIRST: Massive spoilers for Fallout 4 abound. This post discusses Blind Betrayal, a quest with suicide as a heavy theme. Content warning applies.

DISCLAIMER THE SECOND: This post discusses cut OFFICIAL content from Fallout 4 that has since been repurposed into multiple mods. I am not criticizing any modders or their implementations of this content. Mods are fun and people can enjoy whatever the hell kind of game experience they want with whatever mods they want.

I am ONLY interested in discussing the original cut content as Bethesda had written it, and how it would have impacted the story and lore of Fallout 4.

So, yeah, it seems there was originally going to be another way to conclude Blind Betrayal (BB).

As described in this Kotaku article (citing this post by Tumblr user tentacle-explosion,) there are unused audio files of Danse’s dialogue that show an alternate ending to his pivotal quest. These lines are the only evidence we have of this ending (suggesting that it was cut fairly early on, as no other actors/characters seem to have recorded for it.)

From what we can tell, in this alternate ending of BB, Danse comes up with a possible way out of the sticky situation re: his identity as a synth. According to the Brotherhood Litany, he is able to challenge Maxson’s authority as Elder via combat. If you agree to this idea, you go with Danse to challenge Maxson. The Paladin and the Elder duel one another, Danse wins, and Maxson dies. Then Danse names the Sole Survivor the new Elder-- or with a hard charisma check, you’re able to convince Danse to take the job himself. It is unknown how the main plot would have progressed beyond this point, as there is no other evidence of what being (or influencing) the Elder would have been like or what choices it would have given you.

There is understandable disappointment in learning that this ending was cut. Choices in games are great, and it could have been fun to have multiple different options for how to resolve the quest. In many gaming circles, people complain that this theoretical ending is superior to the one we got and shouldn’t have been axed. The Kotaku article calls it a “way better” ending, and you’ll see many players lamenting that it wasn’t implemented, saying Bethesda was bad at writing for cutting it, etc.

So why did Bethesda get rid of the Elder ending of BB?

In December 2020, after the Fallout 4 Cast Reunion, Danse’s voice actor Peter Jessop answered questions in a private signing session on his Instagram. Peter Jessop is an extremely kind and gracious man, an avid gamer, and a huge fan of Fallout. During the stream, he reflected on the alternate ending and remembered recording the lines, but stated the content was ultimately cut because Bethesda decided it was lore-breaking.

Peter Jessop is right. Bethesda was right. The Elder ending of BB is a bunch of dumb nonsense. It sucks, I hate it, and I’m glad they got rid of it. And now I’m going to tell you why!

SIDENOTE: King Shit of Fuck Mountain

There is no wrong way to play a single-player video game. If you are having fun, then you are accomplishing the task for which the game was made. Good for you! Play it on easy. Play it on hard. Mod it. Speedrun it. Make up an intricate roleplaying scenario. Perform “challenge” runs. Kill everybody you see. Ignore the story and run around collecting wheels of cheese. Games are meant to be fun and there is nothing wrong with enjoying a game however you damn well please. This is especially true for RPGs like Fallout, which are designed with player freedom in mind.

There is an RPG playstyle I like to call King Shit of Fuck Mountain: a naked power fantasy in which your protagonist is the most powerful person ever, even beyond normal RPG plot significance. Through brute strength, incredible charisma, or having completed tons of quests for world-breaking artifacts and weapons, your character wields godlike influence, able to control people, factions, and the fabric of the world itself. A game enables KSoFM gameplay when it allows the player limitless freedom to gain as much power as they like with zero consequences to plot or storytelling.

A great example of this is the Dragonborn in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. If the player chooses to pursue every questline in the game, one single person can become Harbinger of the Companions, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Nightingale and Guildmaster of the Thieves’ Guild, hero of the Imperial/Stormcloak army, the chosen one of like, 11 different Daedric princes, a bard, a Blade, and otherwise just, absurdly goddamn powerful in completely unrealistic ways. And that’s not counting DLCs. A fully-kitted-out Dragonborn is King Shit of Fuck Mountain.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing KSoFM if you like to. But I’m not a big fan of this style, personally. Sure, my first Skyrim character became KSoFM while I was figuring out the game, but after my first playthrough I preferred my characters become coherent figures in the story of the world. I pick one or two character traits and things that my Dragonborn is good at, focus on them, and make them part of some overall story. My honorable Imperial paladin werewolf is in the Companions, and hunts vampires on principle. My Argonian sneaky archer is a gleeful thief, but would never jive with the College or the Dark Brotherhood. I like creating protagonists who fit into these settings immersively. I don’t care about power fantasies or being in charge. I don’t WANT my character to be all-powerful, because that ruins my immersion and my little story.

Additionally, in a plot-driven story-focused game like Fallout, KSoFM tears the narrative apart. Skyrim is fairly light on story, so the Dragonborn can be the leader of the Companions and the Dark Brotherhood and whatever other factions without any of them noticing or caring. But FO4’s themes, faction drama, and the main thrust of the plot don’t work at all if the Sole Survivor is able to become too powerful or too influential. The Sole Survivor cannot become the leader of every faction, solve every problem, or eliminate every inconvenient bend of the conflict because it makes the lore of the entire setting implode. Thus, the game forces you to choose between factions. You cannot be with the Minutemen and the Nuka-World Raiders. You cannot be with the Railroad and the Institute. And you cannot become Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel.

So if you’re the kind of person who loves playing KSoFM, if you like plots that your character can “solve” with relative ease, or if you just think it would be super cool for your Sole to become Elder regardless of surrounding storytelling, then you might think the Elder ending sounds super cool. You are absolutely allowed to disagree with me here. Install all the mods and write all the fic and have all the headcanons you like. I respect that. There is no wrong way to enjoy a single-player video game. Have fun!

But if you’re a big nitpicky pedantic lore nerd like me, a fan of cohesive storytelling, or if you just want to hear how the Elder ending of BB absolutely fucking ruins Maxson, Danse, the Brotherhood of Steel, and the entire plot of FO4 from a narrative perspective, read on!

1. The Synth Thing

The Elder ending requires the stupid plot contrivance of the BoS forgetting about Danse’s synthhood.

One of the biggest problems with the BoS as an institution is their strict and dogmatic beliefs, which include a widespread dislike of non-human species. Perhaps more than any other non-humans, the BoS hates synths. Synths are, in their eyes, machines given free will, a violation of the sanctity of human life and the ultimate example of technology run amok. To them, synths are not sympathetic, they are not slaves, and they are not victims of circumstance. They are weapons that left unchecked will destroy all of humanity for a second time. Synths are anathema to everything the BoS stands for, and finding out that one of their most beloved and trusted Paladins is one is an earth-shattering blow to their integrity and sense of security.

It is completely absurd that the BoS would allow a synth within their ranks, particularly as they are waging war against the Institute, who created synths in the first place. It is even MORE absurd that they’d allow one to influence their Elder, or even worse, to become Elder. It completely undermines their mission in the Commonwealth, and the core tenets of their extremely rigid beliefs. No matter the Elder, no matter the Litany or obscure BoS law, no matter how valuable the Sole Survivor is as a soldier or how much influence they wield. Danse is a synth. He’s the enemy. He is physically the embodiment of everything they hate.

Not only wouldn’t they trust a synth in general, but the BoS specifically believes that Danse is an infiltrator for the Institute. Even Danse believes that he is a danger, that the Institute may be able to take control of him and use him as a weapon. Sure, we know none of this is actually true, or possible, but the BoS don’t know that. And given how quick they are to order Danse dead without even the possibility of surrender, I don’t think there’s any charisma in the world that’s going to convince them otherwise.

According to Peter Jessop, this, ultimately, is the reason why the Elder ending was cut. He talks about it around the 11:30 timestamp in his Instagram stream, linked above:

“We recorded an ending where you keep Danse alive and you take over the Brotherhood. But there was a question of content… there’s no way the Brotherhood, once they knew he was a synth, would let him be even the right hand of the person in charge.”

Bethesda correctly recognized the incredible narrative contrivance for the BoS to shrug off the reason they’re trying to execute Danse in the first place. Whatever other beefs I have with this ending conceptually, they all come in second to just what a big dumb leap it is to get beyond this first and most important problem.

2. The Complete Death of Conflict

The Elder ending of BB destroys the conflict of the quest, and potentially the conflict of the entire game.

Greed is a poison. There is no such thing as a perfect ideal or a perfect organization. Power corrupts. Humanity has the choice to build back better. War never changes. The Fallout games are full of themes, depicted by the characters and quests and factions we play out.

Blind Betrayal is rightfully praised as one of the most powerful quests in FO4. Not only is it well-acted, but it puts the player in a very difficult position. The BoS has given you clout and glory and free power armor and lots of firepower, but now you see the price: unquestioning obedience. You are ordered to execute your friend and mentor Danse for the mere fact he is a synth. Are you going to follow that unjust order? Are you willing to give up your principles on command? Or is this where you can no longer stay quiet and stay in line?

To be honest, I’ve always thought the fact you can talk Maxson out of killing Danse but still remain with the BoS in good standing was a cop-out. BB goes 90% of the way to forcing you to choose between a companion and a faction, and then chickens out at the last second to let you have both, if your charisma is high enough.

(I believe this has the fingerprints of Skyrim’s development on it-- Bethesda’s writers got nervous about doing another Paarthurnax choice involving the fan favorite Brotherhood of Steel. That’s right. Danse is the Paarthurnax of Fallout. Frankly, I understand why they chose not to go there, but damn, wouldn’t it have been wild? You want to run with the BoS? Then kill your friend and feel the burn. THIS is what it means to follow orders without question.

As for me, I’d pick Danse every time and sleep soundly without the company of shitty bootlicking dieselpunk LARPers- but I digress.)

Anyway, you know what would have REALLY been a copout? If the game asked you to make a difficult thematic storyline choice, and you solved the problem by just not choosing at all.

You are supposed to feel uncomfortable when Maxson orders you to kill Danse, because the game is telling a story about how it is maybe a bad thing to thoughtlessly follow orders without question. It is asking you to think about what the BoS is, what they are doing, and how they are going to run things, if you choose to let them “win” the Commonwealth. It is pointing out that there is no room for gray in the BoS’ black and white. That a good, loyal man may die because of the way he was made, through no action of his own. That soon, you’ll be killing other people on command. The Railroad. Fleeing Institute synths and scientists. Others, down the line. It all depends on who’s giving the orders. Are you going to follow those orders?

Eesh, that sounds thought-provoking and unpleasant and difficult! Let’s just skip it by killing Maxson and making ourselves the boss. Now we get to tell everybody else what to do!

It’s unknown what powers the Elder ending would have granted the player, or how it would have interacted with the other factions. There is speculation that you’d have been able to ease back on the BoS’ dogmatism, or change some of the later events of the game. For instance, perhaps you could talk the BoS down from attacking the Railroad, sparing popular characters like Glory and Deacon who must die in the normal BoS storyline. Perhaps you could have made the BoS a kinder, gentler faction and directed them to run the way you want them to.

If this was indeed the case, then the Elder ending would not only suck the gravitas out of BB, but torpedo the entire main plot.

If you can get rid of any and all downsides to siding with the BoS, why in the hell would players side with anybody else? With the player given total power, the BoS becomes a perfect faction with no drawbacks, no weaknesses, no tough decisions to be made. Screw slumming it with the Railroad or the Minutemen, let’s take over the BoS. Free power armor and a giant robot! Forget the whole intolerance thing, I hereby proclaim the BoS No Longer Problematic! Now to force all the factions to get along, completely removing all conflict and nuance from the plot!

That’s some real anticlimactic “tell Legate Lanius to go home and then he does it” bullshit right there. King Shit of Fuck Mountain!

Look, it might be nice if there was a perfect path like that to take through the game. It would be cool if our characters could be that powerful and the game was that tailored to our individual choices. On the other hand, “I change all the factions to suit my exact liking” might be a fun idea for a fanfic, but it’s an incredibly boring plot for a video game. “I get to make everything in the world exactly how I want it” is Minecraft, not a story-driven RPG with a complex and intricate plot.

It would be great if complex conflicts could really be solved that easily and effortlessly, but hey, you know what? War never changes.

3. The Assassination of Arthur Maxson (Literal)

Arthur Maxson’s death is too significant and fundamentally disastrous for the Elder ending to make any sense at all.

Hero, villain, leader, monster, tortured soul, brutal dictator, immature twerp, bearded sex hunk. However you personally interpret Arthur Maxson, there is no denying that he is a venerated, popular, beloved figure in the BoS. He is the blood heir of the organization’s founder, a powerful warrior, a brilliant tactician, and a charismatic negotiator. He is responsible for reuniting the East Coast BoS with the Outcasts, leading the new, stronger BoS with a sense of shared purpose. There is a damn good reason his name is Arthur and he named his ship The Prydwen, echoes of King Arthur and the legends of his glorious kingdom of Camelot. Arthur Maxson is so beloved that many view him as a demigod, a messiah sent to lead the BoS into a mighty and prosperous future.

So I’m sure nobody’s going to be upset when some wasteland jackass recruited a month ago stumbles in with a synth, kills him, and takes over his job. Right?

It doesn’t matter that it’s “honorable.” It doesn’t matter that it’s done “by the book” via obscure BoS rules. There is no codex or litany or rule so binding that it’s going to overcome the cult of personality around Maxson. There is no way that the BoS is going to accept the death of Arthur Maxson, a man whose reverence borders on worship, especially not when he is immediately replaced by a wastelander, or a synth.

The death of Arthur Maxson removes the unifying glue that’s been holding the BoS together since mending the rift with the Outcasts. Maxson’s death eliminates the one person that both sides of that conflict agreed could steer the organization in the right direction. Some level heads may try to keep the focus on the mission and the Brotherhood tenets, but Maxson loyalists will never forgive the new Elder for his death, and that amount of passionate righteous anger will not be quelled by appeals to the rules. The new Elder’s war on the Institute is basically over before it begins, when the forces splinter and start infighting over the change in leadership.

And this is if the new Elder lives long enough to actually give any orders. I give them around 24 hours after the duel before some angry Maxson loyalist “accidentally” pulls the trigger and “tragically” empties a clip into their back.

24 seconds, if it’s Elder Danse, the dirty synth abomination.

4. The Assassination of Arthur Maxson (Figurative)

The Elder ending of BB falsely pretends that Arthur Maxson is the biggest and only problem with the BoS.

In the Elder ending, as written, the conflict of BB is considered completely and totally solved by the death of Arthur Maxson. The core problem, that Danse is a synth and considered an enemy by the BoS, has not gone away. But by getting rid of Maxson, this apparently no longer matters. Nobody else is going to take offense to Danse’s nature or protest his presence. Nobody else is going to attack him or try to follow through with Maxson’s prior orders. Nope, that meanybutt guy who gave the order is gone, and everybody else is going to welcome Danse back into the fold like nothing ever happened.

I touched on this a little bit on an ask about Maxson a few weeks back, but a lot of people seem to believe that the FO4 Brotherhood of Steel is the way they are purely because of him. That he is the one making them treat non-humans as second class citizens at best, and enemies to be slaughtered at worst. That it’s his fault the BoS is so vehemently against synths and the Institute. That he is the one influencing their imperialistic tendencies, and treating the Commonwealth like territory to be conquered and people to be ruled over by their betters.

He’s not. That’s the Brotherhood of Steel, guys.

The charitable, altruistic, virtuous BoS that many of us met for the first time in FO3 were outliers. Lyons’ group was literally disowned by the rest of the faction because their kindness to wastelanders had gone so far astray from the “core” tenets. The BoS as a whole has always been exclusive, isolated, and seen themselves as “superior” to the average wastelander. They have long disliked or outright hated non-humans (and even Lyons’ BoS in FO3 use ghouls, feral or not, for “target practice” if they get too close!) The rigid dogmatism of the BoS is not something that Arthur Maxson started, but has always been part of their fabric.

Now, it’s true that Maxson is absolutely going hard on the BoS tenets, and extremely dedicated to upholding them. His BoS are the way they are and act the way they act because he believes that this is the way it should be. Is it possible that a different leader may be a little more flexible? Absolutely. Could a skilled Elder eventually show them the benefits of a softer approach and a more generous worldview? Totally. Is getting rid of Maxson and replacing him going to make that happen overnight, or going to make the rest of the BoS who supported him shrug and follow suit?

Nope.

Blaming Arthur Maxson for everything unsavory about the Brotherhood is unfair to him and also foolishly ignoring the deep, massive problems that are far older than he is-- problems that plenty of its members wholeheartedly believe are not problems at all. Getting rid of Maxson does not make the BoS kinder or gentler. Even pretending Maxson isn’t as personally beloved as he is, any new Elder who steps in and starts trying to fundamentally alter the way the BoS operates and what they believe in is going to face some major, immediate pushback.

Like, a full clip of bullets in the back type of pushback.

In the face if it’s Elder Danse, the godless freak of nature.

5. The Un-Redemption of Paladin Danse

Last, and my personal least favorite!

At first glance, Paladin Danse is a steely jackboot, a die-hard Brotherhood loyalist who fully and firmly believes in their cause. Many immediately dismiss him as a humorless brute, or completely ignore him because they think that’s all there is. But if you spend any time with Danse at all, you’ll notice a sort of weariness in him. He is tired, overworked, and his years of service are starting to weigh on him. He has watched friends, comrades, and mentors die in horrible and gruesome ways, and he suffers from PTSD. Though he has always been told that his own sacrifices, the sacrifices of his brothers and sisters have been” worth it,” he’s starting to question if that’s true.

After telling of the incident where he personally executed his best friend Cutler, who’d been turned into a super mutant, the Sole Survivor is able to console him:

Player Default: You did the right thing. Danse: {Somber} It's what I was taught. I don't know if it was right.

This line is an excellent summary of Danse’s entire character arc. He learns to question whether to believe what the Brotherhood has taught him, or to believe in himself. His gut feelings. His sense of justice and his own ideas of what’s right and wrong.

(In the interest of not turning this into an essay about Danse’s character, I won’t even get into how this also applies to his beliefs about his worth as a person. But keep in mind, that dimension is there, Danse just covers it up by making everything about the Brotherhood.)

During Blind Betrayal, after getting the orders to execute him and hearing Haylen’s plea for mercy, we may expect Danse to be ready to fight back or flee. But when you confront him in the bunker at Listening Post Bravo, he’s compliant and suicidal. Danse is so deeply poisoned by the BoS’ rhetoric that his own feelings or will to live don’t factor into the conversation. He demands that you follow your orders and execute him, because he believes, as the BoS does, that all synths are dangerous and must be destroyed.

Danse: {Stern} Synths can't be trusted. Machines were never meant to make their own decisions, they need to be controlled. Technology that's run amok is what brought the entire world to its knees and humanity to the brink of extinction.

{Confident} I need to be the example, not the exception.

Through various dialogue options, if your charisma is high enough, you are able to talk Danse off the ledge. He is able to consider, at least, that the BoS’ merciless judgment of him is wrong and that what he was taught isn’t right. He is a thinking, feeling, self-aware synth, and that makes him as much a person as any human. Danse is no danger to humanity-- and maybe, most synths aren’t either.

Danse is an example, not an exception.

Later on, if you manage to get him out of BB alive, Danse shows further acceptance of his nature. His approvals about synths begin to soften slightly (or many of them do, at least… it’s not perfect.) He is still struggling with his identity and reconciling it with his former hatred, but his dialogue suggests that he’s on the road to being more open-minded and understanding. Along with this, Danse learns that he has value as a person beyond the Brotherhood. He no longer needs to define himself with BoS beliefs or judge himself by how useful he is to them. He learns that he is worth caring about, worth being friends with or being loved because of who he is-- not what he is, in any regard.

[SIDENOTE: Many players, myself included, are frustrated that Danse’s arc leaves off sort of midstream there. Due to the open-ended nature of the game, we don’t get a real conclusion to his arc-- even though much of his idle dialogue doesn’t change and he still espouses pro-BoS sentiments ( an unfortunate by-product of writing for a video game) there is every indication that he’s started down the right path, but understandably has a ways to go.

Also, Peter Jessop agrees with us.]

Meanwhile, in the Elder ending, Danse doesn’t get a redemption. His entire character arc, actually, hits the skids and does a total 180.

He never leaves the BoS. So scratch the need for Danse to ever think about himself as separate from them. He never needs to question what they’ve taught him or whether they’re right or wrong. He never needs to find any worth in himself beyond his use to the BoS. Why would he? He might be the Elder. The BoS is all he needs to care about anymore. The BoS is all he ever needs to be, ever again.

And I think, most horrifying of all, this Danse never needs to change his mind about synths. On the contrary, one of the surviving dialogue files includes Danse’s speech to reassure the rest of the BoS of his stance:

Danse: I want to make one thing clear to everyone. This body might be synth, but my heart and mind belong to the Brotherhood. The Institute is still a tremendous threat to the Commonwealth. They possess technologies that need to be confiscated or destroyed. And even if that means I have to pull the trigger on my own kind, I’m willing to make that sacrifice.

Elder ending Danse doesn’t grow more understanding on the nature of synths. He doesn’t accept that synths are people, or anything more than technology run amok. He won’t even accept that for himself. Elder Maxson wasn’t wrong about synths-- they’re the enemy and they need to be destroyed.

But, see, he was wrong about Danse. It’s okay for Danse to exist in spite of his nature. It’s okay for him to never fully accept his own personhood, and to outright deny it to his kind. Because his body is a machine, but he’s different from the rest because his heart and mind belong to the Brotherhood.

He’s the exception, not the example.

CONCLUSION:

The Elder ending of Blind Betrayal is dumb, contrived, stakeless, character-derailing powergaming crap at its finest and I’ll happily dance on its grave.

People give Bethesda a lot a shit for their writing-- whether it be stuff they left out, stuff they left in, or stuff that they never, ever could have made work due to the limitations of writing for a video game. Plenty of it is well-deserved, or at least worth a discussion. But from the minute I found out about its existence, I have always wanted to extend a congratulations to Bethesda for cutting the alternate Elder ending of Blind Betrayal. It was a good choice. A very good choice to cut a very dumb plot that would have fundamentally altered the story they were telling, and characters that I’ve grown to love. I think the writers deserve some credit and a hearty handshake for the wisdom of this decision.

Now as for why Nick Valentine isn’t romanceable--

#fallout 4 #fallout meta #paladin danse #arthur maxson #blind betrayal #this one was a long time coming #any thematic resemblance to any fics of mine is a coincidence #the blind betrayal manifesto #king shit of fuck mountain #the initial intrigue of the idea wears off if you think about it more than not at all

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kiannjwriting · 2 years

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(Not the original anon) I saw the cyborg!Sole ask you got, and thought, well, how would the faction leaders react to Sole being part man and part machine? Cause, if you think about it, Ingram (BoS) is a sorta cyborg (the power armour helps her move), the Railroad saves synths, and the Institute makes synths, and what is a cyborg if not a human with metal or even plastic additives, which is similar to synths just a little to the right (think humans -- cyborgs -- synths -- robots, if that makes sense). The faction leaders would all have opinions on it in some regard, right?

Fallout 4: Faction Leaders and Nuka World Gang Leaders React to a Cyborg Sole

I added in the gang leaders from Nuka World, too. Thanks Anon! I liked how you scaled “human-ness.” I never though of it as a scale but that makes sense! Please, keep sending in requests, everyone! :)

Maxson:

He’s very conflicted. Considering Sole was able to hide their cybernetics from him, unlike Ingram, it just brings out his “synth hating philosophy.” He would eventually be okay with Sole’s cybernetics but it would take a LOT of visits to Cade for Sole. If he can’t map out Sole’s non-human bits, he’ll never accept them.

Desdemona:

Completely un-phased. She risks her life everyday for Synths, she would do that same thing for cyborgs. She may be a bit upset that she didn’t know sooner, but overall- nothings changed.

Father:

Not exactly happy, but not upset either. He did work with Kellogg, so he has some sort of tolerance for cybernetics. If there is someway that Sole can live without Cybernetics, he would strongly encourage them to do so.

Mason:

Thinks Sole is a robot. Don’t get me wrong- he thinks it’s cool af…he just doesn’t understand what a cyborg is. Maybe if you explain it to him very slowly with small words….

Nisha:

Okay? As long as Sole is a good overboss, why should she care?

Mags & William:

“So, what? You’re like that robot by the market?”- Willam

“Willam, no.”- Mags

#fallout 4 #elder maxson #arthur maxson #desdemona #father #mason #nisha #mags and William #mags #William

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danses-with-dogmeat · 3 years

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Introducing My Fallout OCs!

OMGGGG y’all, I can’t. I’ve apparently reached over 200 of you fantabulous followers and I am so ecstatic! I honestly don’t even know if this is considered a milestone or anything, but I was super psyched, so I'm doing something about it, dang it!

Also, just a heads up on me right now, I just started school again, so my posting miiiiiiight be a bit sporadic every now and then, but I’m determined to still try and get a few posts out every week, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m also pretty backed up on requests at the moment, I’m still accepting them for the time being, but I may turn off my asks if I’m finding difficulty getting to everyone.

Anyways, I know I don’t ever really talk about my Fallout Original Characters, but I’m thinking of doing some stuff with them in the future, so this seemed like a good place to start 🤷‍♀️ So, here they are! One from each of the 3 FO games I write for. If ya’ll want to send in any asks about these folks, please feel free to do so!

(Art for these peeps is pending potentially as well).

My Lone Wanderer: Hope

Appearance:

- Basically like a black-haired, blue eyed Sarah Connor (y’know, from Terminator), she’s got a small frame, but is an absolute beast. She loves to change up her hair, but prefers the iron maiden, unladylike, or rude ridge styles and will often dye it bright-ass colors, cuz why not? She’s pretty pale considering the vault background and the fact she is constantly wearing full body combat or leather armor when she’s outdoors, and she has a few piercings she actually got before leaving the vault.

What’s in a Name:

- “Hope” was the name that her parents chose for her before she was even born, but she can’t stand it, she just tends to see it as a cruel joke in the world they live in. She instead goes by Effie (short for Ephialtes, cuz she’s edgy and dramatic and read too much in school). Hope tends not to tell anyone her real name, and if she does, you’d best not use it to refer to her, unless you like being enslaved. The only one who could ever get away with it is Jericho and a select few people from the vault (Stanley, and her father, but she’s still not happy about it.)

Sexuality:

- Pansexual

Main Companion:

- Jericho

Relationship(s):

- She has a sort of “friends with benefits” type situation going with Jericho, but it ends up getting... complicated, and turning somewhat into a relationship.

Bestie(s):

- Even though he’s her boss, Hope likes to hang out with Eulogy when she’s in Paradise Falls. When she was in the vault, she spent a lot of time with Stanley, and was pretty close with Butch, Wally, and Paul as well.

Fam Dam:

- James and Catherine are/were her parents (obviously). But she also considered Stanley to be a sort of uncle to her.

Karma:

- Oh, the worst. She’s honestly awful. She steals, she murders, she enslaves, she blows up settlements, all of it. She’s got a lot of things she needs to work out...

Faction of Choice:

- The Slavers of Paradise Falls. (Yeah... she sucks.) The Brotherhood and the Outcasts just never really struck her fancy, and her and Jericho found it was easy to make bank with the slavers. Hope also is a friend to Allistair Tenpenny and Mister Burke... and not the folks in Megaton. Cuz they’re all not really alive.

Vault Occupation:

- Engineer

Fun Fact!:

- Hope is really bad with empathy, and absolutely needs to experience something for herself before she can make any sort of judgement on it, or other people who have had that same experience.

My Courier Six: Sage

Appearence:

- Sage doesn’t really consider herself very “flashy” in comparison to most folks in NV. She’s got shoulder length brown hair (blast back or clean cut style) and brownish-hazel eyes. She’s pretty damn tan (Mojave, you know) and doesn’t have many scars, but the ones on the right side of her forehead clearly indicate where she was shot in the head (thanks, Benny). She and Boone tend to twin quite a bit, with matching red berets and sunglasses.

What’s in a Name:

- The poor girl has no clue what her real name was before she was shot, but she saw a box of labelled herbs in Doc Mitchell’s house when she was recovering from her headwounds and decided she liked the name “Sage.”

Sexuality:

- Bisexual

Main Companion:

- Craig Boone

Relationship:

- Also Boone :) it’s a pretty darn slow-burn romance with lots of bumps along the way, but their love always seems to prevail. (Gross and sappy, I know)

Bestie(s):

- Arcade, plus Rex, and ED-E. Also Victor and Doc Mitchell.

Fam Dam:

- No clue, unfortunately. She eventually tries to find out something about her past and her family, if she has any, but she’s got a few things to deal with first (hint, one rhymes with pleaser’s fleegion).

Karma:

- She may make mistakes along the way, but Sage really does try her best to be as good as possible.

Faction of Choice:

- Mr. House and the Followers of the Apocalypse. Would like to get rid of House, but can't bring herself to become responsible for everything once he's gone. She considers herself his personal empathy and tries to assist with the goings on of the Mojave even after the battle of hoover dam. Fucking wiped out everyone in the Legion. Her and Boone are a force to be reckoned with. And she never really cared much for the Brotherhood since she had such little interaction with them. She has a good relationship with Freeside and most of the settlements/other towns as well.

Previous Occupation:

- Courier? She has no idea what else. But she’s oddly really good with medicine 🤔

Fun Fact!:

- She supports Mr. House for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest is that she doesn't want to lose Victor. He saved her, and she considers the securitron to be her oldest friend (besides Doc Mitchell). She knows it's a little selfish, but she can't bring herself to put an end to him after he pulled her from her own grave and helped bring her back from the brink of death.

My Sole Survivor: Jolene Arvanidis-Ryan

Appearence:

- She’s got auburn hair she usually keeps cut short (clean cut) or in a bun, green eyes, pale skin with a good amount of freckles and has exceptionally straight teeth (braces suck, but you know.) When traveling with Cait, people tend to think they’re related. Jolene tends to wear a black beret and, if she has the time and resources, she likes cat eye style eyeliner.

What’s in a Name:

- Her first name runs in the family... plus her dad really liked Dolly Parton, so that helped cement the first name for him. Nate’s last name was Arvanidis, and she tends to use that as her last name exclusively, she rarely reveals her maiden name (Ryan) to anyone.

Sexuality:

- Straight

Main Companion:

- Paladin Danse

Relationship:

- It takes a long time (post BB), but she ends up being with Danse.

Bestie(s):

- MacCready and Cait

Fam Dam:

- Pre-war, her father was a carpenter and her mother was a major in the US military, she had no siblings and was very close with her father since her mom was often away on deployment.

Karma:

- Decent. Tries her best to do what’s “right,” but she sometimes has a hard time determining what that is. Is good at following orders, even if she doesn’t always agree with them (BB is the exception in this case).

Faction of Choice:

- Brotherhood of Steel, at least until BB, then she tends to focus more on the Minutemen, but still stays by the BOS’s side when it comes to taking down the Institute. Despite her loyalty to the BOS, she always regrets what she did to the Railroad, and how she ended things with the Institute, and she holds quite a bit of resentment towards Elder Maxson for ordering her to pull the trigger that ended her son’s life, and the other lives within the Institute.

Previous Occupation (Pre-War):

- She was a Gunnery Sergeant in the US Military. (Trying to follow in her mother’s footsteps).

Fun Fact!:

- She hates killing feral ghouls, but keeps it under wraps since she tends to travel with MacCready and Danse the most. After that random encounter where she found herself murdering her own neighbors, she can’t bring herself to look into the eyes of any feral ghouls she has to kill.

Bonus! Fun Fact!:

- She started out as my sort of "throw away" playthrough where I wanted to do a BOS run, just out of curiosity, but she ended up being my main playthrough… probably because Danse is just the best and I can't get enough of that tin can thesaur-ass.

#fallout #fallout 3 #fallout new vegas #fallout 4 #original character #fallout oc #thank you guys again #ily all so much #thank you for reading #you all are the best

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sleepysailorjunko · 3 years

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Tracey's opinions on different members of the Brotherhood of Steel.

Paladin Danse: At first, when she meets Paladin Danse, she feels this deep respect for him. The man is very strong and he radiates safety. Tracey is a people-pleaser almost all the time, so it's not even surprising that she was willing to fall all over herself to complete anything he says. Over time, as she grows more familiar with him, she finds herself falling in love with him.

Scribe Haylen: Haylen is a friend. If Tracey ended up leaving the BoS, she would likely try and convince Haylen to leave as well. She really admires Haylen for informing her of Danse's wherabouts.

Knight Rhys: Rhys is kind of a jerk in the best of situations and Tracey honestly doesn't understand what Haylen sees in him.

Paladin Brandis: Tracey is fairly protective of Paladin Brandis. She can't really help it, honestly. Whether he wants to rejoin the Brotherhood or not, Tracey will support him.

Lancer-Captain Kells: Kells had maybe insinuated that Tracey was wasteland trash, but she had hardly cared. She wasn't a wastelander to begin with, and it was hardly the worst insult slung at her. Detectives weren't often popular or well liked. In Tracey's eyes, it just gave her more to prove.

Proctor Quinlan: At first, Tracey just disliked Proctor Quinlan because of his attitude. After she visits the Institute, that dislike grows. After it's revealed that Danse is a synth, she hates him and treats him with cool disdain.

Knight Captain Cade: Prior to visiting the Institute, Tracey didn't mind Cade all that much. Post-Institute, she dislikes him, but not as much as Proctor Quinlan.

Scribe Neriah: Tracey doesn't really mind collecting blood for Neriah. It's messy and all, takes up space in her bag, but it's for a good cause though. She minds, however, that Neriah named the formula 111.

Initiate Clark: Tracey doesn't hate Initiate Clark. She pities him because she understands. But what he's done, it's dangerous. Tracey carries Knight Rylan's holotags for months.

Proctor Ingram: Really admires Proctor Ingram. She's got this aura of strength.

Knight Sergeant Gavil: He isn't someone that Tracey likes. When Rhys is a jerk, she kind of gets it: She's sort of easy to underestimate, but with Rhys, she could prove herself. Gavil doesn't allow that.

Knight Lucia: She and Knight Lucia don't really get along all that well. It's very awkward because of Initiate Clark.

Knight Sergeant Larsen: Larsen and Tracey met a total of once, at far harbor. Larsen and his men came too late.

Proctor Teagan: Tracey doesn't mind running around to different farms. The Brotherhood does have to eat. She kinda warms to him after he tells her about Rico.

Arthur Maxson: At first, Tracey doesn't really know what to think of the High Elder of the Brotherhood. His speech is very dramatic, with his comment about caring about the people of the Commonwealth feeling strange and tacked on. She doesn't have the context or knowledge about the Brotherhood or the Codex or the Litany. When he tells her to kill Danse, she hates him. When he confronts them outside the Bunker, all she can think about is how fast she can draw and how fast they could run.

#arthur maxson #proctor teagan #knight sergeant larsen #knight lucia #knight sergeant gavil #proctor ingram #initiate clark #scribe haylen #scribe neriah #knight captain cade #proctor quinlan #lancer captain kells #paladin brandis #knight rhys #paladin danse #Tracey Love #fallout 4 #sole survivor

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hyper-cryptic · 3 years

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Oh yes, an ask ! What's the opinion/relation of Kate on the others companions ? Do they have a bestie ? Does she hate/dislike one of them ?

Hell yeah!! I am glad you ask about her, I absolutely adore talking about Kate! By the way, really funny fact, I have actually romanced most of the companions (Danse, I am coming for that ass), but canonicaly, their partners are Hancock and Nick! :D

Cait:

She admires her! Like, a lot! They think she is a super strong person, in both meanings! She loves how brave, how sassy she is! She’s just really fun to be with overall in Kate’s opinion!

About her drug addiction, Kate never really minded, but they were really concerned about her health. When Cait told her that she wanted to be cured, they didn’t hesitate to help her.

Kate knows Cait can be a better person, especially under her influence! She constantly makes subtle comments that might make Cait change her opinion on things. Every once in a while they sit down to talk about her insecurities if she’s ok with it!

Funny extra: Since their names sound literally the same, Kate asks to be called Kat! Or to call Cait, “Irish Kate” tho expect a very angry irish person coming down your way.

Curie:

Absolutely LOVES her!! They love her curiosity and optimistic personality! Thinks she’s adorable.

They were very supportive of her wanting to be a synth, she thought it was very interesting! Though, was also very worried about how they would get to it...She was relieved that she didn’t have to take anybody's life!

Kate loves to make Curie flustered. It’s honestly adorable to her how she gets mad about getting compliments because she gets distracted, or confused. She lets her know why, tho! Hahah.

Codsworth:

He is family. He had been since before the war. It was the only person she could actually be herself.

When the bombs dropped she couldn’t stop thinking about him, if he was fine, if he had survived. When they got out of the vault, she was so happy to see Codsworth alive and well.

Kate wasn’t able to leave Codsworth’s side during 1 whole months, if it wasn’t for him and Preston, she would’ve given up on everything, on the ‘whealth, on shaun, on herself.

She adores his dumb sense of humor and his ridiculous british accent.

Danse:

She...likes him? She certainly enjoys his company and thinks he is kind and great but his bigotry and loyalty to the BOS makes her really uncomfortable.

Kate could connect to him on an emotional level, but never actually be interested in him, no matter how much they tried. BOS was just a major shit that made her uneasy. She only joined because they could be helpful to get rid of the Institute, and she was going to until…

They straight up refused and told off Maxson, but he didn’t give her the choice. When Haylen begged them to hear out Danse, they told her that she didn’t need to worry at all and would do everything in her power to keep Danse safe. They tried to change Maxson’s mind about Danse, about synths, but as she expected, he didn’t. After this whole incident, she quit the BOS and decided to destroy the Institute with the Minutemen.

She offered him to stay with her, on the lighthouse, but after a BOS attack to a settlement she left him in, Danse insisted to let him live alone, that it wasn’t safe to have him living there so close to Shaun. Kate sadly had to agree, she couldn’t risk to lose Shaun or any of her companions. She still goes and visits him every once in a while! Even got him to meet Shaun! They got along and share a love for cowboys.

Deacon:

LITERALLY BESTIES. Imagine those girls in highschool that are always together, wear matching clothes and call each other “slut”, “whore” and “bitch” affectionately? That’s them.

They literally wear matching clothes when they travel together. (I make ‘em wear matching clothes…)

Kate always introduces them as “ The Death Bunnies”.

She catched up immediately with his compulsive lying. She doesn’t mind it, in fact she might even go along with it, depending on the context and what type of lie it is. She tries to help him with it, along with his impostor syndrome (...which comes...literally sometimes?) and he tries to help her too. Hoes got each other’s back.

If they aren’t with their partners, they are with Deacon. Hell, even when they are with Nick and Hancock she brings him, of course if it’s not private. Deacon gets along with Nick so it isn’t much of a trouble...but they literally have no idea why Hancock dislikes him, tried to ask him but he said “some things are best left unknown”, which left Kate even more curious but respected his...privacy...I suppose? She asked Deacon, he said that it was no biggie, but to get Hancock to hold a long grudge like that is really weird so she can’t believe him. What did he do? She might never know...

They adore him overall, and loves his dumb comments, which she tries to always reply without bursting in laughter.

Dogmeat:

Light. Of. Her. Days. Well! Of course after her partners!! *gulps*

They can’t go on with her days if she doesn’t pet Dogmeat at least...twice. She gives him kisses, pats and plays with him at the end of the day.

When they first met Dogmeat, they almost couldn’t believe it. It was like a light in the dark, he definitely made her days easier as she was trying to stay stable during those 2 dark months.

She almost never goes out with Dogmeat because she is really worried the radiation might affect him, or even die out there. She usually has this fear with most of her companions, but specially him, as he is a literal animal and will probably not know if something is really dangerous or not just looking at it.

She usually falls asleep with him on the couch.

Hancock:

Do I really even have to say anything? He is her everything along with Nick.

Kate’s first impression of him was: “Oh. FUCK. HOT?!”

Okay but really, she found him attractive and interesting after that first interaction. They had their doubts about him..you know him being a politician and all, but they quickly disappeared the more they interacted with him. Damn, the more she knew about him, the more she was interested in him.

About Bobbi, she was totally into robbing McDonough, she did question Bobbi a lot though, as she instantly noticed how shady she was. She actually realized they were going for Hancock instead mid-way but waited to get there to confront her, make sure she was right. She didn’t do it for Hancock, instead because she wasn’t going to rob somebody who didn’t deserve being robbed. Tried to tell her to get out, nobody needed to be hurt but Bobbi refused to, so she had to pull the trigger. She knows it was the right thing to do, but can’t help but think if it could’ve ended differently.

She loves Hancock so much, they can’t stop thinking about him. “What would Hancock think about this?”, “Hancock would love this”, “I wish Hancock could see this”, “I miss Hancock”, literally being so clingy.

Overall, she thinks he’s such an amazing person: he’s kind, he’s brave, he’s funny, he’s understanding, he’s adorable, he’s caring, he’s determined, he’s (very) handsome...I really could go on.

She tries so hard to get him to understand that he is an amazing person. He appreciates the efforts.

“watch you sleep” by girl in red is totally their song.

MacCready:

LITERALLY A LITTLE BROTHER. They adore him! They love how funny and sassy he is.

Kate had to constantly tell him that she doesn’t care about caps and that he can keep ‘em if he wanted, that it looked like he needed it more than her, and she’d be right!

When Mac told her about Duncan she was upset at first, how could he just leave his child like that? Never acted on it, since she knew it would make it worse, but she could quickly understand where he came from and why he did what he did. Didn’t hesitate to help him find the cure for Duncan.

They share a love for snipers and long ranged weapons so...that’s a topic they talk about a lot!

They both geek out about Silver Shroud every once in a while! Listen to the plays together and stuff like that!

Nick:

HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They didn’t like him when they first met. They liked Nick’s humor, but couldn’t stop thinking about how much he acted like a cop, and let’s say Kate had their share of bad situations with cops because of race, and shit like that. Kate didn’t know a lot about synths at the time, so she just guessed somebody programmed a fucking cop persona into him. And she wasn’t going to deal with a cop bot that probably had a stick up his ass.

Eventually, when she got so oversaturated with work, and stressed out with the whole Institute shit, she decided to go and do some of the cases with Nick, she couldn’t wait to show this “cop” that even a “civilian” could do his work. As she worked through the cases, she began to notice that Nick was...actually ok? She had more knowledge about synths at this point, but still didn’t understand how Nick worked exactly. He did tell her that he was a prototype, between Gen 1 and Gen 3, so she quickly realized that he was no ordinary bot. She eventually warmed up to him, and could see the appeal.

It was like a bomb dropped inside her head when Nick asked if she was doing fine. Kate had never actually opened up with anybody, not even with Hancock. She mostly worked over her depression and anxiety by keeping herself busy and unhealthy thoughts like “they need me to be strong, I am a role model right now.” with the whole being a General thing, and the fact that so many people relied on her. Kate tried to be dismissive of it, but Nick could see right through her, and insisted that it was ok to open up. She had to get really drunk to do any of that shit! So they told him that they should both go to a “more private place”, as an excuse to get her hands on some alcohol. Didn’t end up drinking any alcohol, and just spilled most of it. Found comfort on his “origin story” with Diamond City.

He was a huge part in her full recovery, along with Hancock and Deacon. But honestly? If it wasn’t for him, it would’ve taken her snapping at anybody and being confronted about it to actually open up to anybody.

She didn’t realize she had any feelings for him until a month after that event. That they were storming into Eddie’s shelter that she realized that they loved him. All of this they were doing for him, the cute comments, the praising and trust they had in him...it became so clear why while he was talking to her after killing Winter, she couldn’t help herself but to dump on him why he was not just “a shell” how he was so much more than that. She didn’t actually confess her feelings to him there, but they were pretty close to doing it. If it wasn’t for her thoughts stopping her from doing it, what would happen with Hancock now? She still loved him deeply...

Eventually, two weeks after, they took a break at the end of the day from missions with Nick, at the empty bar that she had built inside the Castle. It was midnight and mostly everyone had gone to sleep, so they could talk about whatever they wanted and get as drunk as she wanted. They were having so much fun until Nick brought up something she had said that day they ended Winter’s life. Fuck. God, they wished they hadn’t been so busy to actually sit down with Hancock and ask him what he thinks of polyamorous relationships because she was way too drunk this time to stop herself from doing anything stupid. And she didn’t, Nick did, he corresponded but said that he couldn’t let her do this to John. Hah! Little did they know Hancock was super into the both of them. (I actually want to make a lil’ fic about this!!)

They just love him so much and connect with him on a whole new level. He and John make them so happy, she literally couldn’t ask for anyone or anything better than what they have going on.

I know it isn’t exactly a love song, but “Agnes” by Glass Animals reminds me of them.

Piper:

WHAT A LADY, AM I RIGHT? They adore her!!

She is literally her kind of lousy! Always speaking her mind, always speaking the truth. She admires what she does.

I really don’t have much to say about her, just that they really like her and that she thinks she’s a good friend and overall good person!

Was totally in to beat up McDonough’s ass.

Preston:

They think he is amazing!! He is so kind and caring, they like him a lot!

Let’s say that he liked him so much at some point they got together during those two months. It wasn’t a stable relationship and they both acknowledged that they just didn’t work. Besides, he was there when she met Hancock, and had this look in her eyes that he had never seen. Not to worry tho! He has been testing the waters with Sturges lately! ;)

They function better as friends! Besides, it was quite awkward for Kate their General/Soldier dynamic they had going on, so that was another thing!

She thinks he is so cool and amazing, and they let him know this!

Kate teases him about when they were a couple and they laugh it off.

Honestly, he was a big help for Kate during those months and she is really grateful for all his help. They were both really important for each other.

X6-88:

They didn’t get to know him as much as they wanted.

It all was happening so fast, they couldn’t do anything to convince him to get out of the Institute before it was too late.

And it was. They had to kill him along with the other coursers.

In their time as companions, they thought he was enjoyable to be with. He looked like he could be saved, but...yeah.

They made him a grave in the Institute’s remains.

Aaaaaaaaand, that’s all!! Gosh, that was loooong!! Can you see I was really eager to talk about Nick and Kate’s relationship? Yeah, that shit is long.

(I literally finished this yesterday...at 2 am or something)

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pain-of-redemption · 3 years

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Ok ok ok I neeed to rant about something in Fallout lore because this genuinely makes me upset. (Also this does contain spoilers so please do not read ahead unless you’re ok with that)

So the Institute right? Love it, hate, or you don’t care about it. The Institute has played as the main villain in Fallout 4 and even a small part in Fallout 3. They have made several technological advancements. Such as making synths of Brahmin, birds, and humans. But they have also solved a their major power problem and even counterfeit caps (of course it’s never 100% from my knowledge, and I count this as an advancement because they figured out how to make more of what is essentially a limited resource). They have done many many great things. Granted are they doing those things for the betterment of themselves and not the entire Commonwealth/Wasteland? Yes, but it’s still good in the long run.

So why the heck would the BoS, the Railroad, and the Minutemen want to blow that up? Look I get it guys the institute is a big, bad evil that’s practically been sewing threads of discourse across the wasteland. The Minutemen (and I think the Railroad too) at least tell the sole survivor to initiate an evacuation order to save some lives. But that just seems so wrong to me. I can understand why the Brotherhood would straight up and blow up the institute with no thought. I mainly blame Maxson for being impulsive. But why, why would the Minutemen or even the Railroad want to blow up the institute without thinking about the good it could do.

Think about it, most if not all the scientists work in the institute because it is a safe and clean place to stay. You get three meals a day, a bed to sleep in, steady albeit difficult work, and best of all, your safe from any danger.

Wouldn’t the Minutemen want to use their communication systems? The radio signal is significantly stronger than the one at the castle. And the would have an incredibly easy time moving Minutemen troops to settlements in need of help. Not to mention the institute could become their new base of operations with the castle becoming a training camp or something.

The railroad would probably be able to keep their synths safe in the institute. Tinker Tom would have an absolute blast with the technology. And like the Minutemen, that could become their new base of operations as it’s almost impossible to get into the institute without the use of teleportation or taking the long way through a sewer pipe.

And some of you might say “well the scientists will try to kill (insert faction) if they try to take it for themselves.” Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, look the scientists run away from the sole survivor. But even then if the Minutemen (or maybe even the railroad) told the scientists that they wouldn’t hurt them and allow them to stay if they helped them the scientists would most likely agree. You either get to agree to live under a new power or disagree and get kicked out/killed. The choice is pretty easy.

Now would the scientists there be allowed to continue their research? Depends on the branch. Bioscience and engineering would be allowed to continue their research. Robotics would likely be allowed as long as they aren’t unnecessarily harming innocent people. SRB would be shut down 100%. Neither the Minutemen nor the railroad would allow that division to continue operation.

I’m not saying the endings were awful. I can understand why each faction would want to blow up the Institute. But I’m just saying there should’ve been a choice to blow up the Institute or allow it continue operation with restirictions. The main reason I didn’t like this is because you’re killing Shaun and it just feels so heartless? Like you barely get an emotional moment with him and I feel like the sole survivor should be allowed to share their final moments with Shaun before he passes away or you blow up the Institute.

#people just need to talk about it more really #it’s not a fault in Bethesda’s writing.. they just could’ve expanded more on it #anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk #fallout #fallout 4 #fo4 #fallout Institute #fo4 Institute #commonwealth institute of technology #minutemen #the railroad #the brotherhood of steel #BoS #fallout lore #fo4 lore #fallout 4 lore #fo lore #rant

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caelan0d · 3 years

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what do dawny dixie and val think of each faction? can be any faction even minor but you don't have to do em all!

Dawny

Brotherhood of Steel- truly hates them and what they stand for. The BoS under Elder Lyons was only marginally better than the BoS under Maxson, but then again the Boston BoS was directly influenced by the shitty leadership from Lyons. The BoS as a whole is only marginally better that the Enclave as well in his eyes. They are basically the same machine, just with a new coat of paint, aka a different way they rationalize manipulating the masses and excusing their bad shit (Dawny knows for a fact that the BoS would have loved for him to put that virus in Project Purity, just as much as the Enclave did.) He leaves DC with his family to try and get away from the Brotherhood, since he helped with Project Purity they think he can be a means to their ends, and he is not about to be some puppet for a faction like that (also he is tired, and physically unwell and just wants to settle down with his husband and kids) and is fucking devastated when Masxson and crew move in.

Enclave- awful hates them, same as the BoS just doesnt hide how awful they are with decorum like them, and more willing to just kill whoever gets in their way. You know Dawny blew Raven Rock up (that’s for Dad and the rest of DC, assholes) Idk what else to say about them other than the obvious things that Dawny would find reprehensible about them.

The Railroad- Was helping them since DC, and becomes a member when in Boston. Of course thinks that synths are people that deserves rights as much as anyone else in this world. Agrees with them that the Institute sucks shit. Really wishes that they would have more empathy for anyone who isnt a synth too (some of the dialogue with victoria about facial reconstruction like threw ME off as a trans person... idk it feels weird I think it would throw Dawny off too. Like really awesome I can change my face/body to whatever but I know I’m a human what are you on about) Would definitely do what he could to help synths but would also divide his attention to other problems as well, like...

The Minutemen- Likes them a lot, likes what they stand for and understands why they are struggling. It’s easy to set your sights too high in the name of the greater good, and try jumping in without taking the proper steps to get there. He would probably spend a lot of his time supporting Preston and helping them in whatever way he can, all the way up to the last of his days. He would teach settlers about basic medicine and horticulture and teach those that were interested in all he knew about biomedicine/biochemistry

The institute- When he finds out about, and eventually meets the institute, Dawny swears he has deja vu. A lot of the same problems that BoS and Enclave have, but a bit scarier just because of how much they act like their actions are justified and appear to have this really neat and clean outer façade. He agrees with the need for scientific advances, but there IS such a thing as going too far. Absolutely devastated when they try to use fixing his chronic illnesses as leverage for outing the Railroad. Spits in their face, says fuck you, and then salvages whatever info and equipment he can before helping wither the railroad or minutemen blow that shit up. Convinces Li that this isnt the way to go about helping people and that she should come back to one of the settlements and work with him on stuff in his little makeshift lab.

I will do Dixie and Val in a separate post! this is already super long and my brain is melting

#dawny tag #fallout 3

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fallout-fuckery · 4 years

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who are your favorite characters/companions from fallout? who are your least favorite? favorite and least favorite factions? why?

(I apologize for my lack of judgement and knowledge on Fallout 3 and Fallout NV. I haven't done more than the basic playthrough and therefore dont have much know how on some of the finer things.)

Fallout 4:

[Favorite character] Its a fight between Danse and Gage. Danse is just fuckin adorable in my opinion, especially after Blind Betrayal, so that wins him a spot on the 'favorite character lineup'. Gage is just an emotionally stunted greasy raider with an accent, and that gives him all the points he needs to fall into the lineup as well. If someone had to fall into third place, it would probably be Maxson. Particularly cause he was so squishy and adorable in Fallout 3 and then got hit so hard by The Puberty Truck it gave the entire Brotherhood whiplash.

[Least favorite character] Mags just rubs me in the wrong way. Marcy also just made me wanna strangle her and toss her to the dogs. Sierra Petrovita gets on my nerves, too. Didnt like her in Fallout 3, dont like her in 4.

[Favorite faction] On terms of morality, the Railroad. They had the best moral compass(aside from the fuckin Minutemen, but we dont talk about them with all the fuckin claim a settlement and now those fools are your responsibility bs) and Deacon is hands down the funniest companion in my opinion. On terms of who I side with more often, the BoS. No real reason. The BoS was just the faction I stuck with on my first playthrough.

[Least favorite faction] (The fuckin Minutemen) The Institute. I stuck through it until the rooftop scene with Shaun and was like "just who tf do you think you are" and hightailed it back to the Brotherhood. I dont quite like the Brotherhood's morality, but meh. They give me cool power armour and some asses to stare at, so I'll let them live.

Fallout 3:

[Favorite character] Butch. He was such a little shit and I loved him for it. Second place is Jericho, hands down. I may or may not have a thing for greasy raiders. Mini Maxson falls into third place cause he was adorable. His little terminal entries were the best and I just cant see it with how he acts in Fallout 4.

[Least favorite character] The damn Overseer of Vault 101 was a prick. Other than him, I couldnt stand Moriarty. Like.. how dare you treat sweet Gob like that. Sierra Petrovita falls on the least favorite character list yet again.

[Favorite faction] BoS. I really haven't explored Fallout 3 as much as I have 4, so my Brotherhood bias strikes again. I do like the nodes to the Institute and the Railroad though.

[Least favorite faction] The fuckin Enclave had me foaming at the mouth my entire playthrough. Like.. how.. d a r e they. I also absolutely despise the Enclave cause their dudes killed Butch and Dogmeat so many times. I had a field day with all the reloading saves.

Fallout: New Vegas:

[Favorite character] Ring- a- ding ding, baby! You guessed it! Its Benny! He was such a little shit and I'm still salty that they didnt make him a companion like they intended. Boone is also a favorite. He was the companion that saved my sorry ass more times than I can count.

[Least favorite character] I haven't played very much of New Vegas, so i dont really have much of an output on characters I hate or dislike. I'll get back to this after I go through the game again.

[Favorite faction] NCR. Mainly cause of Boone. Other than that, no real reason.

[Least favorite faction] Legion. My deadass reason for hating the Legion is cause they made me kill Benny. I let him live for a reason! Leave the dumb one alone!

#fallout 4 #fallout new vegas #fallout 3 #gage #danse #porter gage #paladin danse #benny #boone #maxson #elder maxson

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jinglyjangly · 4 years

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For making Danse more sympathetic maybe something involving Goodneighbor and him sort of realizing just how bad it really gets for people, especially ghouls? Or possibly dragging out the quest revolving around him being a synth some and getting the railroad involved and culminating in having the choice to wipe his mind back to before he knew he was a synth, wipe it almost entirely, leave him the same and urge him to be better (probably leading to a change in his attitude and not much else), and leaving the choice up to him entirely. Not sure if all that is too complex or something but it’s just sort of what I’ve come up with on the spot.

ive been thinking how much more fun it wouldve been to watch the bos destabilize from their twisted viewpoints instead of just blowing them up. it wouldve been really interesting if you couldve framed maxson as a synth somehow and see everyone turn on him, or if he turned out to be a synth and you could basically watcha civil war break out. danse wouldve been a great middle ground there, him being conflicted over it. but idk, something something , bethesda thinks the bos is too good for that or something.

otherwise idk if they couldve fixed danses arc without going into detail and nuance bethesda would never do, because the plotline of “secretly the thing i hated all along” just aint so simple

#Anonymous

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theggning · 3 years

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I'd you've discussed it before, I missed it. So no pressure if you don't want to rehash, but ... Can I get your general thoughts on Elder Maxson? Your opinion of him/headcanons you might have?

He's such a complex character imo, and lately he's been living rent free in my head.

Yeah, absolutely! I’ve previously given him a lot of shit and I make fun of him often (we all know What He Did) but he is actually a really complex and fascinating character.

I actually feel really sorry for Arthur Maxson. The poor kid never had a chance to be well-adjusted or have a normal life. Arthur is the last living descendant of the man who founded the Brotherhood of Steel, and he comes along at a time when the Brotherhood is heavily struggling for relevance. In the west, they’re strictly and dogmatically isolationist, and you end up with groups like the Mojave chapter fading into obscurity in a bunker. In the east, you’ve got Owyn Lyons, who makes a stand for what he believes in (altruism), gets his entire chapter disowned, and loses half of his soldiers because they disagree (the Outcasts from FO3.)

Meanwhile, Arthur carries the blood and the name of the one person EVERYONE in the Brotherhood believes in. When we meet him in FO3, Squire Arthur Maxson is a smart, shy, gentle 10-year-old boy who’s been sent eastward away from his parents both to protect him and to “make him stronger” (his parents die while he’s away.) He had no friends his own age and no friends at all, actually (except for Liberty Prime-- a journal entry mentions a scribe chasing Arthur out of the lab and scolding him for trying to befriend a machine.) He hero-worships Sentinel Sarah Lyons, but he’s too young and clumsy to follow her out into the field. Everybody treats him like a small soldier or a messiah, no matter how he tries to downplay his lineage and claim to be a normal boy. This literal child spends his entire life being told he’s special and mighty with a “soul forged from eternal steel.”

The pressure and the expectations eventually start to push him into embracing his “destiny.” By 12, he’s improved his combat skills enough to kill two raiders on patrol. By 13, he single-handedly kills a deathclaw (and earns his face scar.) By 15 he’s taking out important super mutant leaders. And by 16, he’s so hardcore that the West Coast BoS gets back in touch with the East and names Arthur Elder. At the age normal teenage boys are socializing with peers or having friends or letting their brains finish developing, Arthur Maxson is the goddamn supreme commander of a military force. And the East Coast BoS actually thrives under him, becoming more powerful and relevant than they’ve ever been. And this is how we go from the shy, quiet squire to the charismatic, highly-beloved (MOTHERFUCKING 20-YEARS-OLD) Elder Arthur Maxson in FO4.

I wouldn’t say that FO4!Arthur buys into his own hype. Despite how he’s been treated his whole life, he doesn’t believe that he is a god or a messiah. But he does believe literally every single word of the BoS codex. He does believe that they are saving humanity and doing what’s best for the future. He has been living as the legend people expected of him for years now, and is determined to continue down that path.

I think in his own twisted way, Arthur actually does care about the people of the Commonwealth, as he claims to. But it’s in the same way that a king cares about his subjects. He knows what’s best for them and doesn’t really care to seek their input before doing what he likes. Though he genuinely does believe the Institute is evil and he genuinely wants to protect the world from their menace, he also comes to the Commonwealth because he wants to lead his own glorious war of liberation, the way Owyn Lyons did in the Capital.

Also, for all people claim the BoS were “ruined” by Arthur in FO4, keep in mind that

A. Lyons’ BoS and their charity and altruism were actually outliers- most of the BoS are a bunch of isolationist asswipes (see: the entire West Coast branch) B. The BoS hating non-human races is the norm, not the exception C. Arthur has actually fairly smoothly integrated BoS traditions with Lyons’ more fair and altruistic beliefs (which he grew up with.) He clearly maintains a lot of respect for the Lyons family (even if the current BoS party line is to denigrate them in favor of praising Arthur.)

Here are some things that Arthur has commanded of his BoS that make them the kinder, gentler version of the faction, and also just some general nice things he’s done as Elder:

Civilians are ordered to be treated fairly. BoS soldiers are not permitted to harm them (except in self defense) and any and all tech they possess is to be traded for fairly with food and medicine. If they refuse to trade, they are left alone.

BoS soldiers are to defend civilians and initiate proactive strikes on super mutants, feral ghouls, Institute synths, and other threats. BoS vertibird crews are to protect caravans from above.

BoS soldiers are to be monitored for mental health concerns as well as physical. Arthur explicitly orders Cade to treat all mental conditions the same way he would treat an injury.

He shows deep personal concern for his staff and crew. This is notable in the terminal entries re: Ingram, where Arthur is apologetic for denying her field duty-- and when she disobeys him and goes to Mass Fusion anyway, all he does for punishment is to write her a sternly worded letter.

Arthur Maxson is a cold, brutal, unflinching military dictator with a god complex. He is a lonely, frightened child carrying the weight of the world and desperately trying to prove himself. He’s a compassionate, charismatic leader. He’s a terrifying enemy. He’s an idealistic liberator who wants to protect humanity. He’s a dogmatic bigot who thinks evolving his views is showing weakness. He’s all of these at the same time. He could only get the wide and varied fandom reception he does by having this many facets of his personality, and by being one of the most complicated characters in the game.

And okay, I’ll say it: his beard and his jacket are pretty sexy.

#fallout 4 #arthur maxson #gg answers #i pick on him but honestly maxson is really interesting #he's just mean to my boy so i want to give him a swirly #he's a great and complex ally/antagonist and they did an amazing job with him #fallout meta

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