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velvet-helvetica · 6 days

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Hello world! I’ve dusted off this blog for some updates, including a new fic that I sorta accidentally published (what?!! it’s not that exciting, really. Read on if you must):

* First, a preface: Wow, that Fallout show is pretty neat! I’ve only watched the first episode but it gave me all the feels seeing the dystopia we know and love come to life. Pretty sure the rest of the fandom has already binged all 8 episodes. I’ll have to dodge the spoilers because it’s going to take me longer to get through the series with my busy schedule (although I’m determined to finish it before my Prime free trial ends).

* Perhaps because of the show, or the inevitability of people discovering how awesome the Fallout video games are, new readers have stumbled upon Good Blue Hunting. To my embarrassment, the fic has been sitting there “In Progress” since Feb. 2021. So I decided to finally do some AO3 clean-up and mark the darn thing as Completed. Hooray!

* In the process of getting GBH to completed status, I unexpectedly had to publish a new fic. Reason being that I had 3 chapters for an Epilogue sitting in draft form in GBH. I didn’t want to lose those chapters (even though they’re kind of meh and not fully completed), so I copied them over into a new fic called Tomorrow’s Headlines.

To be honest, I wasn’t ready to publish them, but after learning about AO3’s policy of deleting draft fics after a month, I didn’t want to lose them. So… yeah. There it is. I should be more enthusiastic, but I haven’t looked at those chapters in a while and am honestly scared of how dusty and unfinished they are.

Still I feel like I owe it to anyone who cares about F/F Nora/Piper Fallout fanfics to publish them, warts and all. It ties up some loose ends that truly bothered me in the main story. So far there are 2 chapters posted, with a 3rd one waiting in the wings. I have a 4th chapter on my computer…and then the material abruptly ends. Endings are hard!

* To summarize, yes I have a new fic, Tomorrow’s Headlines, epilogue to Good Blue Hunting. But don’t hold your breath for Tomorrow’s Headlines to be fully completed (but I never say never). Oh, and I made both as part of a series, which trumps up their self-importance. And no I haven’t finished the Fallout TV series yet, no spoilers please.

* Related news, I’ve already received one comment from a kind reader stating their belief that Tomorrow’s Headlines was written by ChatGPT (bwahahahahahaha!!!). I make no promises that this fic will get any better. In fact, letting ChatGPT have a go at it might improve it immensely 🤣.

#fallout 4 #fallout #fanfic #fanfiction #piper wright

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velvet-helvetica · 3 years

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re: Good Blue Hunting epilogue and what’s next

I felt compelled to post an update about Good Blue Hunting after reading comments from a very nice binge reader.

Many moons ago, I had promised an epilogue to this fic. It’s 99% written. The 1% I’m stuck on is literally the ending to the epilogue.

I’ve been going back and forth about whether to scrap the epilogue and just end the fic where it is currently, which in itself is a good endpoint in my opinion. There’s the risk of ruining a perfectly decent ending with a less-compelling ending.

Still, it seems a shame to waste the 99% that I already wrote. So my current thought is to post the epilogue as a separate fic (clearly marked and linking to the main fic). And then it will be the fanfic reader’s prerogative whether or not to accept the epilogue. It won’t matter to me either way—it’s only fanfic! So I’ll knuckle down and make a decision on the epilogue ending soon.

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What’s next? At the moment I don’t have the same itch to crank out another fanfic, although I do have some ideas sketched on mental napkins. My free time is currently consumed in a Mass Effect Legendary Edition playthrough. I’d love to do a Mass Effect fanfic, something that’s been on my fic writing wish list (but does the world need yet another Mass Effect fanfic?). I’ve also considered doing a Fallout 4 AU, but I’d need to do a lot of research and planning before it gets off the ground. Another on the fic writing wish list... has anyone played A Summer’s End? That game really hit close to home for me.

Hope to poke my head back into AO3 before long!

#ramblings #fanfic update #sorta

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velvet-helvetica · 3 years

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The story of today

Good Blue Hunting - Chapter 24: The Promised Land

Blue exhaled a long sigh, encompassing a lifetime of things left unsaid. She stared hard into her empty glass.

“Yeah, I did. I was so young when I got married, and headstrong. Self-righteous. I was already angry at my parents for not accepting my choices. In some ways, it was easier to just blame them for everything, for whatever I was ashamed about in myself.”

“But it wasn’t all their fault. Our whole society was wrong, and corrupt. I still hate what my parents did, but now I understand that they thought they were protecting me. They were newcomers here. Then their homeland became allies with China, the ‘enemy.’ It felt like other people only saw us as foreigners. They never felt at ease here.”

I let her story sink in for a moment. This was the sort of nuance that got overlooked all too often in the history books. The narrative of America’s ‘melting pot’ that burned its newcomers instead of welcoming them as equals.

“That’s awful, Blue. I didn’t realize that pre-War life was so...complicated. And prejudiced. I can’t imagine what it was really like back then.”

“Yeah. It’s so upsetting, thinking about all the things that people used to get worked up about. But it’s all in the past now. Right?”

She looked at me, doubtful. I couldn’t give her an honest answer.

...

Good Blue Hunting - Chapter 41: The Great Experiment

Finally, she answered. “The things that gave rise to the Institute, they haven’t gone away. Those things caused the end of the world, and they still persist from the old world. They’re part of the old story, that some people are more worthy than others. That doing things the old way is the only way.”

I raised my head. “So, what do we do about it?”

“We have to be vigilant. We have to keep telling people the truth. But more importantly, we have to create a new story. A better story. A story that helps people believe in each other, that shows them a new way.”

“So, we need to imagine better.”

#I tell myself this story every day #meta fanfiction #fanfiction #fallout 4 #Piper Wright

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velvet-helvetica · 3 years

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Good Blue Hunting

Chapter 41: The Great Experiment

#sanctuary #piper wright #fallout #fallout 4 #F!SS/Piper #fanfic #fanfiction

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velvet-helvetica · 3 years

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Good Blue Hunting - gif guide, Chapters 31-40

For your binge reading pleasure (and to make up for all the times I didn’t post chapters on this blog), here’s your gif/image guide for Good Blue Hunting Chapters 31-40. Also see the gif guides for Ch. 1-10, Ch. 11-20, and Ch. 21-30. Guide for Ch. 41+ coming soon! (when I’m done writing...)

Chapter 31: Into the Void

(image source: polygon.com)

Chapter 32: An Interminable Wait

(gif source: pinterest.cl)

Chapter 33: Off the Record

Chapter 34: Interlude

Chapter 35: A Synth, a Ghoul, and a Super Mutant Walk into a Bar...

(gif source: giphy.com)

Chapter 36: For Love and Glory

Chapter 37: Brothers in Arms

Chapter 38: Monkey Business

(source: giphy.com)

Chapter 39: Deadbeat Dads

(gif source: gfycat.com)

Chapter 40: The End of the World

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velvet-helvetica · 3 years

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Good Blue Hunting - gif guide, Chapters 21-30

Hey Vault Dwellers, I’m just about ready to post Chapter 41 for Good Blue Hunting! Coming this weekend...

In the meantime, I’m catching up on some shameless self-promotion. Here for your enjoyment is a long-overdue GIF/image guide for Chapters 21–30, soon to be followed by a Ch. 31-40 guide and a Ch. 41+ guide. (Also see the gif guides for Chapters 1-10 and Chapters 11-20.)

Chapter 21: Of Gods and Monsters

Chapter 22: In Living Memory

Chapter 23: Ghosts in the Machine

Chapter 24: The Promised Land

Chapter 25: Tunnel of Love

Chapter 26: The Freedom Train

Chapter 27: Brotherhood of Tyrants

Chapter 28: Children of the Damned

Chapter 29: The Dead Sea

Chapter 30: Waking Nightmare

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velvet-helvetica · 3 years

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Still writing!

I’m a slow poke. But yes I’m still writing this thang.

#ramblings

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velvet-helvetica · 3 years

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Good Blue Hunting fic update

I just updated my pinned posting schedule and the Chapter 38 endnote with the latest plan for Good Blue Hunting. I decided to delay posting Chapter 39 by one more week—I did finally finish writing it, but I think it needs to simmer a little more before it gets posted.

I’m not as sure about when I will post the rest of the chapters. I have bits of Chapters 40 and 41 started, but not enough for me to know when they’ll be ready to post. Then there’s the Epilogue, which could end up being either 2 chapters or one big mega chapter. I’m not sure when the Epilogue will be done either, but I’m shooting for some time in early 2021.

As for why I’m not keeping the same schedule as before, all I can say is that pandemic fatigue is really hitting me big time, and life at home has been an up-and-down struggle lately. Plus it’s almost the holidays, and on top of that, fic endings are scary. But I don’t want to leave anyone hanging—especially myself!—and I have every intent to finish in a timely manner so that I can move on with life and possibly to new fics!

If you’ve been following my fic, thank you so much! I am woefully behind in responding to comments, but I greatly appreciate them and will reply to them in the near future. Your support has been so inspiring, and I want to return the favor by ending the story well. In the meantime, I hope you all are reading (and writing!) other great fics and living your best life. Stay safe and see you soon.

#ramblings #fic update

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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@theartofblossoming Omigosh, that does sound like a challenge! Incidentally, my personal record on chapters I wrote eons ago is 4 years. I wrote Chapters 8 & 25 when I first started my fic 4 years ago, but life got in the way and I couldn’t fill in everything leading up to them until now. (But replaying your OC and revisiting a 4-year old completed fic like you are is a whole different animal compared to revisiting my dusty 4-year old chapter drafts xD.)

Fic link here. But the scene I wrote (for chapter 39) isn’t up yet, it should be up on or abouts Thanksgiving weekend, so come back in a month 😅

I just drafted the funniest chapter for Good Blue Hunting. Unfortunately, this chapter won’t take place until the end of Fallout 4′s Act 3. And I’m only about 2/3 done with fleshing out the events of Act 1. It’s gonna take me forever to connect where I am now with this chapter :(

I have a couple of fun chapters like this, where there are big gaps that need to be filled in between before they make sense in the story. Sigh. I’m assuming this is normal for fanfic writing, right?

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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Now hear this: I’ve finally caught up to the scene that I wrote seven and a half months ago in a fever dream. For context, I had just published Chapter 4 when I wrote it. This scene takes place in Chapter 39 😳

I just drafted the funniest chapter for Good Blue Hunting. Unfortunately, this chapter won’t take place until the end of Fallout 4′s Act 3. And I’m only about 2/3 done with fleshing out the events of Act 1. It’s gonna take me forever to connect where I am now with this chapter :(

I have a couple of fun chapters like this, where there are big gaps that need to be filled in between before they make sense in the story. Sigh. I’m assuming this is normal for fanfic writing, right?

#I finally caught up #ramblings #fic update

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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Good Blue Hunting

Chapter 36: For Love and Glory

(Glory = Vasquez = same energy)

(Also I just surpassed 100k words 🎉 which is crazy considering I’ve never written a term paper or anything that long before! Wanted to mark this milestone since it may be the only time I ever get to do so!)

#piper wright #fallout 4 #fallout #fanfic #fanfiction #f!ss/piper #glory #Deacon #Desdemona #aliens reference #100k words & counting

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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Good Blue Hunting

Chapter 35: A Synth, a Ghoul, and a Super Mutant Walk into a Bar...

When in doubt, have a drink!

(Featuring cameos by Cait, MacCready, Curie, Strong, Nick, and one Mr. John Hancock)

Additional chapter notes below the fold (fic spoilers!):

If you’ve been following along on AO3 (and not here on tumblr, where I’m woefully behind in crossposting chapters!), last time Blue chose to send back the four escaped synths to the Institute from Bunker Hill. If you’ll forgive the reference to Mass Effect, I tend to make Paragade (mostly paragon with a dash of renegade) in my gaming because I’m a sucker for the angst. Plus, the experience of having to make morally grey choices is baked into Fallout 4 (even if it’s forced in many cases), and I’m interested in exploring what they’ve given us.

I’m explaining all this because I got some interesting feedback about the last chapter, and that’s okay! I’m not 100% convinced about Blue’s justifications for her actions. I don’t think this will be the last word on her choices, and things will likely get rougher from here. (dun dun dun...)

Regarding the bar scene, I admire fics that are able to naturally incorporate every single companion and side character from their fandom into their story. I’m trying my best to do the same, but alas my skills are not as boss-level as others! So the bar scene is a nod to the other companions who aren’t getting as much screen time as they deserve. (And yes, I’ve left out Longfellow, Porter Gage, and Ada, but for now I’m skipping the DLCs.)

Piper’s comment about the companions being “our friends” was partly inspired by a scene with Kira in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “The Circle”:

(screenshot borrowed from blog.angryasianman.com — the guest author has a nice write-up about this scene and how it connects with her life) Poor Piper started out with no friends at the beginning of her journey. So even though this seems like a throwaway line, it’s a recognition that Piper’s gotten closer to more people with Blue’s help, even if they are a bunch of weirdos. Regarding the cameo by Hancock, I’m indebted to @falloutfandomeventhub on tumblr for hosting the #Celebradiation event back in July. I wrote this short fic inspired by my giftee’s request, which also helped me get inside Hancock’s character and think about Goodneighbor’s role as an Institute-free space.

Regarding Hancock’s question about what really happened between Blue/Magnolia and Piper/Magnolia (see Ch. 18 & 22), I’ve been vague because all headcanons are valid as far as Magnolia’s concerned. But let’s just say that I’m 100% guilty of hitting that “Romance” button when no one was looking...

I’ll be back with another chapter in 2 weeks (Oct 17-18) and I’m cautiously optimistic about the bi-weekly posting for the foreseeable future.

U.S. friends: A friendly reminder to vote early and wear a mask! See you soon.

#Piper Wright #fallout 4 #fallout #fanfic #fanfiction #hancock #F!SS/Piper #I am many many chapters behind in my updates on tumblr #but ao3 is up to date

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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Dang I’ve never felt so called out before in my life! How rude

#trying to write as fast as I can!#it’s harder when I finally make the time to write that the telepathy doesn’t work

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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Happy Bi Visibility Day! Granted, I’m not following the spirit of the day by being invisible. But since myself and my fic character are bi, I figure I should at least say something.

#bivisibilityday #baby steps #ramblings #also it seems like a lot of romanceable video game characters are bi but I dunno if that counts #I might delete this later to become totally invisible

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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@theartofblossoming I like the points you raised! Especially the theory that the Vault could have caused damage to human memory due to it being experimental tech. And there are all sorts of IRL psychological reasons why humans could forget whole chunks of their life. Anyway this is what happens when I play and learn some new canon tidbit... My brain goes into overdrive puzzling out how it fits with my headcanon! Tbh I’m gonna leave this one alone, but it’s still fun to think about xD

Popping back in briefly for an escape from the dumpster fire of the real world… So I started playing the Far Harbor DLC—I know, what’s wrong with me for not playing the DLCs sooner, but these DLCs are so freakin’ huge!

Anyway, there’s an intriguing bit of dialogue where DiMA questions whether the Sole Survivor is a synth, and then asks what is the first thing SS remembers. And I find it interesting that SS can only answer with the memory of being with the family before the bombs fell, and then being frozen in the Vault.

Then DiMA questions why you don’t remember your childhood, or your first kiss and other memories, implying that because SS doesn’t remember anything earlier that SS might be a synth. And I wanted to answer, “Well of course I do! I had parents and a brother, and kissed a girl when I was 13, and graduated high school, and met my husband, etc. etc.” (see Ch. 23 of my fic)

Only that dialogue option wasn’t available. And then I remembered, “Oh yeah, that’s my headcanon, not game canon.” 😳🤔

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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I just fiddled around for an hour puzzling out whether SS could be a synth. TL;DR there are too many contradictions within existing canon for it to be plausible. If Shaun the Father knew, he would have have been okay with a synth running the Institute. Or someone would have had to replace SS without Shaun knowing. And Kellogg wouldn’t have known either, unless he had a good reason for withholding this info from SS.

Anyway, too many plot holes for my liking. But if one ignored those plot holes or did a retcon of Shaun’s beliefs, then you get angst like this:

SS actually died in the Vault 210 years ago! The SS who wakes up in the future is actually a synth!

Shaun lost his entire family to the War, so he replaced them with synths!

Will Piper (or whoever you ship) still accept SS as a synth?

Popping back in briefly for an escape from the dumpster fire of the real world... So I started playing the Far Harbor DLC—I know, what’s wrong with me for not playing the DLCs sooner, but these DLCs are so freakin’ huge!

Anyway, there’s an intriguing bit of dialogue where DiMA questions whether the Sole Survivor is a synth, and then asks what is the first thing SS remembers. And I find it interesting that SS can only answer with the memory of being with the family before the bombs fell, and then being frozen in the Vault.

Then DiMA questions why you don’t remember your childhood, or your first kiss and other memories, implying that because SS doesn’t remember anything earlier that SS might be a synth. And I wanted to answer, “Well of course I do! I had parents and a brother, and kissed a girl when I was 13, and graduated high school, and met my husband, etc. etc.” (see Ch. 23 of my fic)

Only that dialogue option wasn’t available. And then I remembered, “Oh yeah, that’s my headcanon, not game canon.” 😳🤔

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velvet-helvetica · 4 years

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Popping back in briefly for an escape from the dumpster fire of the real world... So I started playing the Far Harbor DLC—I know, what’s wrong with me for not playing the DLCs sooner, but these DLCs are so freakin’ huge!

Anyway, there’s an intriguing bit of dialogue where DiMA questions whether the Sole Survivor is a synth, and then asks what is the first thing SS remembers. And I find it interesting that SS can only answer with the memory of being with the family before the bombs fell, and then being frozen in the Vault.

Then DiMA questions why you don’t remember your childhood, or your first kiss and other memories, implying that because SS doesn’t remember anything earlier that SS might be a synth. And I wanted to answer, “Well of course I do! I had parents and a brother, and kissed a girl when I was 13, and graduated high school, and met my husband, etc. etc.” (see Ch. 23 of my fic)

Only that dialogue option wasn’t available. And then I remembered, “Oh yeah, that’s my headcanon, not game canon.” 😳🤔

#don’t you hate that?#does that mean SS is a synth?#fallout 4 #far harbor #ramblings

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