#deacon whimsy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

slocumjoe · 1 year

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Companions on social media

Cait; Posts gym thirst traps and videos of her working out or getting into fistfights. Can be found in the comments and DMs of women, gay or otherwise. Lots of activity in sobriety and self-help communities. Doesn’t have a lot of followers, but does fundraiser streams for a week every three months she's sober. The money goes to child abuse prevention foundations. Her most recent charity streams had her trying to get all achievements on Just Dance after someone donated 10k requesting it.

Codsworth; self-help videos for people struggling to take care of themselves. How to tidy up, how to take effective breaks, what needs to be cleaned in a house and what supplies you need...very useful, very popular with college students and teens. Once posted a video of him going at wasps with a chainsaw and gained a million subs overnight.

Curie; children's educational YouTube channel that's, somehow, more popular with young adults. Science experiments gone wrong. Think Jackass and Mythbusters hosted by a tiny French woman who approaches everything with the joy and whimsy of My Little Pony. Her most popular videos are her 100k subscriber specials, a series where she goes ghost and cryptid hunting to disprove them and demonstrate the fraudulence you can find behind such things.

Danse; has a Facebook for work purposes. It has a profile photo only because Haylen insisted. Fears the internet deeply, thinks its the closest humanity can get to staring into the void and seeing something blink. Unbeknownst to him, there's a viral video of him teaching a workout regimen to trainees. The comment sections are pure thirst. All of his coworkers know and made an oath to never speak of it.

Deacon; Is the one who snuck into training and got that video. Posted it to r/NextFuckingLevel with 🥵🥵🥵 for a caption. Owns several large meme accounts, all with distinct personalities and lives. Someone tried to dox him after suspicions, but found all accounts had different IPs and info. He's just that good. His Facebook changes profile photo every. Single. Day. He consumes an absurd amount of audio books. Drops CRAZY money on charity streams to make the host do weird shit, like 100% Just Dance. Probably sells feet pics.

Dogmeat; The internet's darling. Nick Valentine's dog who doesn't help with catching bad guys, but with far more important things; Dogmeat cuddles and plays with victims at the scene or in court. Also trained in search and rescue. Much of Dogmeat's page is just Nick sharing important information (hotlines, self-defense, survival tips, et cetera) while petting or playing with Dogmeat. Kind of a McGruff the Crime Dog vibe.

Gage; Facebook that he uses to cyberbully cop pages and Craigslist to offer his...unconventional services (pretending to be your boyfriend at family gatherings to cause drama). His pet lizard, an Argentine Tegu, has an Instagram with 3k followers. The Tegu often wins pet competitions and Gage posts the awards captioned with 🖕🏻💚🦎💚🖕🏻. Works at an amusement park, posts tell-all confessions on Reddit.

MacCready; Facebook with friends and family, posts a lot of Duncan. His YouTube history is videos for Duncan. Lots of Curie's videos. Mac has a Craigslist and LinkedIn, does odd jobs when he isn't working as a security guard at a shooting range. Activite in communities about comics, shows, and video games. Sometimes he'll post a theory about a show or comic and he's usually right. Really enjoys the meltdowns of fandoms when the media takes a nasty turn, even if he's also betrayed.

Nick; Ellie runs Dogmeat's page, Nick just does the talking. As for Nick himself, has some pages for his work (that Ellie also manages) and a Facebook profile to stay in touch with friends and family. Much like Danse, consumes media offline—except for poetry. Most of his screen time is spent on Poetry.com, one of those people that leave comments. He likes how the internet makes information and art accessible. Very peaceful and wholesome internet time.

Hancock; The void that Danse is scared of. Also does streams, but not only for fundraisers. Streams high. Streams himself trying to find his way back to his apartment late at night. Always end up in a fast food joint, trying to convince the workers to unionize. Twitter shitposter until a politician needs cyberbullying. Organizes protests. Extremely active in Massachusetts' political scene, his fans are a force to be reckoned with. Has fistfought his own fans before. Occasionally cancels himself to prove a point. Makes mock apology videos whenever another celeb/influencer fucks up.

Preston; Park ranger and community organizer. Uses Facebook and TikTok to appeal to all ages. Is unfairly good at TikTok dances. Posts safety tips, upcoming event information, etc. Does a lot of work with Dogmeat and Nick. Posts bodycam footage of him arresting people, like shutting down fire-themed gender reveal parties, or poachers. Not a lot of followers, but the bodycam footage goes viral on subreddits like r/Instant_Karma.

Piper; a journalist and blogger. Posts videos of her political rants and makeup/hair routine. Joins Hancock in politician cyberbullying. Makes commentary essays and videos, sometimes book reviews. Appears on podcasts. Her media presence is decently known, but mild. She tries to keep herself distant from it. Despite this, has a good-sized following who appreciate the lack of parasociality. Her most famous video is her trying to find the best coffee spots in Boston.

X6-88; security guard for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who got stuck running the Twitter when the last guy got arrested on weed charges. Piper keeps DMing for an interview and he keeps blocking her accounts. He has LinkedIn for work. Half of it is redacted and involves NDAs. No other media presence except for one thing; he's an infamous esports cryptid. Across a few different shooter games, a high-rank player called X6-88 (its just his first initial and the numbers on his security badge) fucking curbstomps everyone in the match. He has never died or missed a shot. Never speaks in chat, never in team chat. He's a legend among gamers. For him, he's just relaxing on a Friday night, keeping his senses sharp. Doesn't realize there are compilation videos of streamers raging at him.

#fallout 4 #fo4 #paladin danse #preston garvey #piper wright #nick valentine #robert joseph maccready #john hancock #X6-88 #porter gage #companions react #i rlly liked making this this was fun #im probably going to do more of these

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sqlmn · 3 days

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Since Fulj and Holly exchanged chokers and then Ananza bought Oh a necklace (but looser than the girlfriends bc she still values whimsy and freedom in the AU)... Oh bought her a lil bracelet. And she is SO happy and adores it and them and she is very happy to show Deacon her cute friendship bracelet.

Cause. Ananza still adores Deacon in the AU and wants to dote on him like a mom despite how much taller he is (and probably the same age tbh).

#the daily life of a deity sucks #modern deities and their weird lives #imagine living your life just fine by scent and then suddenly you have two parent figures in your life that are your age #imagine this happening AFTER you meet a famous architect you admire and falling in love while thinking it wont ever happen #and then seeing everyone exchanging little things that are symbolic to them #and then realizing aw fudge my crush wont do that for me but thats ok i guess maybe still sadge tho #ymber dont be a neck freak in one time line challenge (failed)

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here-have-some-stories · 5 months

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Massacre Masquerade Chap 3

Leon walked out of the darkness, discreetly looking around to see if anyone had noticed. Acting like everything was normal, he casually walked out and blended into the crowd. Making his way over to the food stand, he poured himself another cup of vanilla Coca Cola and waited for Deacon to follow.

He looked around the crowd of people, everyone happily talking and mingling with each other. The amount of noise going around into the ballroom made it impossible to make out what people were saying. Occasionally a word would be said loud enough for him to hear. Once he heard, “That bitch!” being said. Then he heard, “Why do you just stab me in the chest with a spatula?”. Leon discovered that the things he could make out, were often the strangest.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around, thinking it might have been Deacon. Instead he was faced with a tall young girl wearing a dragon themed mask and dress. The reason for the night was to not recognise anyone, but Leon knew exactly who was hiding under the mask.

“Hi, Bailey,” he said. He could recognise his sister anywhere.

“Hey,” she replied back, smiling at him. “What are you doing, just hanging around here?’’

Leon started to say ‘Nothing,’ but he didn’t. Him and Bailey were extremely close, telling each other everything, even the smallest unimportant things. He couldn’t remember a time when he had lied to her. “Waiting for a friend.”

“You're actually socialising!” Bailey exclaimed, feigning extreme shock and surprise. “Better get a doctor on site, I just might die of shock!”

“Haha, very funny,” Leon said sarcastically, though he couldn’t stop smiling at his sister's whimsy. He glanced briefly behind Bailey’s shoulder and saw Deacon walking towards him. “My friend’s here now,” he said. Bailey turned around, as if she would be able to recognise someone she had never met before.

Deacon walked up to them, smiling at Leon, although Leon couldn't see because the mask was back on.

“Nice to see you again, buddy boy.”

“Buddy boy?” Bailey said to herself. “Never heard anyone call him that before.”

Deacon glanced at Bailey questioningly, silently asking who she was. Leon spoke up.

“This is my sister,” he explained. Deacon nodded his understanding and held his hand out to Bailey. She took it and shook his hand firmly.

“Hi, my name’s Bailey,” she said, instantly breaking the anonymity rules of the night. Deacon broke them in exchange.

“Deacon.”

“I like your dress,” Bailey complimented. Deacon looked down at the dress in question.

“Thanks,’ then he looked at Bailey’s clothes, finding something to compliment in return. She wore a black one piece that had glistening red plastic dragon scales on it. They jutted out from her left shoulder, leading down across her torso to her right hip, where they formed into functioning pants. Altogether it made quite an impressive outfit.

“I love those scales,” Deacon said, and he wasn’t lying. “They’re really pretty.”

“Thank you,” Bailey said, smiling brightly.

“She made that costume all by herself,” Leon said, deciding to give his sister some credit for her hard work.

Deacon turned to her, impressed. “Wow, all by yourself? You like designing clothes or something?”

“It’s more of a hobby,” Bailey answered, “My main focus is on the King’s Guards. That’s why I’m here.”

“I think that’s why we’re all here,” Deacon said and Bailey laughed. Standing quietly to the side, watching the exchange, Leon was glad their meet had been going well. All of a sudden the noise in the crowd became louder, and Leon watched anxiously as Bailey winced at the noise.

“You guys wanna go somewhere else?” She asked, and Leon knew she was hoping they would say yes. “It’s too loud here, can barely hear ourselves think.”

Deacon looked at Leon and then looked at Bailey. “Sure, why not.” Bailey turned around quickly, becoming the two of them to follow her. They did. She weaved herself through the crowd, and Leon saw her put her hands up to her ears to block out the noise. As they walked, they got further away from where the main body of people were, and it started getting quieter, but Bailey still kept walking. She led them to the unisex bathroom, where she beckoned them inside. Deacon looked at Leon, a question in his eyes, but Leon just shrugged. Bailey then led them into a stall and stood up on the toilet seat. Leon saw that there was a window right above it and knew what she wanted to do. The window was luckily large enough for all of them to fit through. When they jumped back down to the ground, Deacon and Leon saw that they were in a small area, fenced off, and the fence was locked. They then noticed that Bailey was climbing a ladder attached to the building, leading up the roof. Leon now fully understood what she was doing. Glancing at Deacon again, they both followed her up.

What did you think dear children? What did you think of Bailey? If you liked please review and give feedback if you have any, plus suggestions.

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bokatan · 10 months

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Relationships asks: know, for good, companions, fate, and meet strange

@fuzzydreamin [ oc asks: relationship edition ]

Thank you, these were some really good questions! Answering for Mercy & Reed.

Know: How well does your OC know themself—their wants, their goals, their motivations? Do they engage in any sort of self-reflection? Is there anything about themself they willfully ignore?

Reed: He ...vaguely knows himself. There's a lot of things that he's aware of but doesn't want to acknowledge or deal with, and he makes a point not to do any self-reflection. Reed has a very bad habit of ignoring his wants, and specifically the ones that involve other people and him being more open, honest, and vulnerable. He's aware that he does this, he's aware that it's awful for his mental health, and he's aware that it's caused him to miss opportunities to actually get what he wants on more than one occasion but he refuses to acknowledge that and do anything to change it.

Mercy: She's pretty self-aware in general and she frequently self-reflects to keep herself in check. She also has a bit of a habit of ignoring her desire to be close with people, but she's at least aware of it and knows that it's a bit of a defense mechanism from losing so many people in her life. She's hesitant but ultimately willing to work on that after she thinks it through a few times.

For Good: Is there anyone in your OC's life who had an undeniable positive impact on who they are as a person? How did knowing this person improve your OC's life?

This is going to sound so sappy but Reed & Mercy had hugely positive impacts on each other. Their prewar lives were pretty tumultuous due to both of them being in active duty, so having a constant person around(and specifically one with many common core traits, and many similar + shared experiences) got them through a lot of hard times. Reed helps Mercy a lot with stepping back from her work and not getting so hyperfixated on it + encouraging her to have more whimsy, and Mercy helps Reed with being more emotionally available, slowing down and making less impulsive decisions, and encouraging him to deal with various issues that he’d otherwise try to avoid.

Additionally for Mercy: Her post-Enclave partner, Frances, had a huge impact on Mercy turning herself around and unlearning all of the shit she'd picked up in the military & Enclave. She strongly encouraged Mercy to pick up her prewar projects and rework them into something that'd actually help others. She also unintentionally encouraged Mercy's self-righteous side and taught her a lot of the skills she later used for bounty hunting during her drifter era.

Companions: Is your OC part of an adventuring group? A band of travelers? A guild, a team, a crew? What's the group dynamic, and how does your OC feel about their companions?

Reed's core group is Piper, Nick Valentine(+ Ellie), Delta, & Ada and his main romantic interests are Deacon & Danse. The overall dynamic they have leans into the found family area; Nick's sort of a mentor/parent figure to Reed, and his relationships with Piper, Ellie, Delta, & Ada are platonic and he sees them more as siblings than just close friends. Reed is very close friends with Deacon and Danse too, but both of those relationships have a romantic aspect as well - he and Deacon shift into sort of a queerplatonic relationship after they officially break up, and his relationship with Danse starts heading in that direction but it's up in the air after Blind Betrayal occurs.

Mercy tends to be more of a loner when it comes to adventuring - she rarely travels with other people, but she frequently has an animal companion(typically some wasteland flavor of horse and/or dog). During her New Vegas era she picks up Raul, Veronica, ED-E, and Arcade as traveling companions but they part ways when she opts to head back to the East coast. Her relationships with all of them are relatively casual and mostly platonic; she does end up with a bit of a crush on Veronica, but that doesn't go anywhere and she gets over it.

Fate: Does your OC believe in destined meetings? True love, soulmates, hearing the bells? Have they ever experienced this?

Reed: Not really. He doesn't believe in destinies and doesn't put much(or any) thought into things like soulmates. As far as experiences go: he wouldn’t admit it but Mercy’s somewhere in that genre for him, and Deacon is too but in more of a platonic manner.

Mercy: Vaguely. She does believe that destiny is a thing(though not all that important in the grand scheme of things) and she does think that some people are just meant to be together. As far as experiences go - she believes that her past partner from her Wyoming era was probably her soulmate, and she'd consider Reed to be something along those lines.

Meet Strange: What's the most memorable way your OC has ever met a new person? Was it a good experience? Bad experience? Just plain weird? How's their relationship with that person now?

Reed: His introduction to Delta is a mess. So he initially sees them while they’re set up shop at Bunker Hill - and he freaks out because from one side Delta looks pretty much identical to prewar Mercy. Reed’s under the impression that Mercy died on the other side of the country 200 years earlier so there’s no reason why she’d be selling scrap and robot parts in postwar Boston. He briefly talks to Delta and they obviously don’t recognize him, and he notices their synth features, and he just goes full panic mode and takes off because that is too much. After that he routinely runs into Delta because his main settlements are in their trade route, & he panics and leaves, & Delta’s sketched out and concerned. Reed eventually uncovers some info regarding old DNA samples that had been stored in one of the prewar labs near Cambridge and connects one of them back to Mercy + he gets some info on Delta’s origin from the Railroad, and he eventually gets himself to talk to them & things get better from there. Reed and Delta actually end up being really good friends, it just takes a while for Reed to work things out.

Mercy: She barely remembers it but her initial intro to Benny is getting shot, so.. that counts for something, I think. The actual intro she fully remembers is also a terrible experience since that's when she meats him in the Tops. He obviously gets killed in that whole ordeal so they don’t exactly have a relationship.

#thank you!!!💖#ask games #reed tag #mercy tag #vague cannibalism reference if you squint

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lemonysnicket · 1 year

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whats ur favorite raconteurs story + why 👀 👀

HELLO THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY WITH A RACONTEURS ASK!!! this is so hard because it's nearly impossible to choose a favorite; i love the entire book front to back and adore eveerryyy single page. but!! some do really stick out to me. i guess i'll just rant about my few favorites. i think i need to separate them, though, because they destroy me in different wayyyys. i could talk about all of them for a million years. here are some of my faves in no particular order

the first twin's tale/the whalebone spring!! out of all of the more standard short stories in this book, this one sticks out to me. the first time i read it, i was so unnerved by the ending. something about the whole story had such an indescribable horror to it. i think about it a lot honestly - deacon and morvengarde always make me explode a little bit, and it's honestly such a brilliant and rich piece of world building that permanently sticks out to me in every single nagspeake book as just...so cool, and so scary, and so intriguing. and despite it appearing in nearly all of the stories in this book, for some reason the whalebone spring just encapsulates the feelings so perfectly. the way the story is told is also so chilling - props to reever for that one. love him. i think a really interesting part of the way raconteurs is told is that each story, despite being kate milford's lovely vivid writing each and every time, still captures the voice of the character telling it, and you can always learn so much about them just from how they speak and how they tell their story. that's one of the things i adore so much about raconteur's, is how much of the characters are left up to interpretation through this subtle characterization. there's only a little bit of explicit backstories or lore for each of the characters; excluding the likes of petra, massetter, etc, a majority of the less plot heavy characters are left as mysteries for the most part, and you simply infer the type of person they are through how they tell their story, the story they choose to tell, and the million tiny moments that characterize them throughout the book. it's brilliant. so yeah the whalebone spring is just...very very chilling and very cool . a million out of ten

the orphan's tale/the summons of the bone HAS to be up here. petra is just...the character of all time. she makes me weep. many of the characters do, but there's something about petra specifically that's so personal and nuanced and powerful and it evokes soooo much emotion. the summons of the bone is, if i recall correctly, the first story that sort of breaks the pattern from second hand tales and passed down stories to straight up backstory dumping and it's incredible. it's such a heartbreaking tale, and you just want to sob realizing how hurt and betrayed she was as a child. the amount of grief that story holds... unbelievable. not to mention that the concept of orphan magic is so.... chef's kiss. i love it. the grief and the whimsy and the beauty of it all.... honestly i don't think words can describe how the part where she floats down the river with the bone makes me feel. like. i'm going to explode it's so good. i think there's also something about the motif of water. something about how the rain and the river are so intertwined with all of these messy emotions always gets me. and it's so prominent! petra's grief and loss is tied to the floods, sullivan's guilt and pain are tied to the water (side note: sullivan always makes me want to explode he makes me feel so many emotions. i'm not listing his story here because it's less his story that makes me feel things than the interlude right after it - that one changed my brain chemistry forever - so i won't go into detail about it right now, but i think it's important that everyone knows how much sullivan makes me sob), captain frost, too , has his water related pain. and the floods in summons of the bone feel like the culmination of it, a rush of all of the anguish. and this connects to the ending and how impactful that is, when the floods start to fall. i just have. so many emotions. petra is just such an incredible character - i love her understated and underestimated intelligence, her silent observation, her power and her sadness and her knowing nature. what a lovely lady.

the headcutter's tale. i know it's just the ending and not technically a *story* story but...the ending really messed me up in the best way. i don't think i've ever been left so RAW after finishing a book. i felt like i had all of my emotions just drained completely and was left with this sheer love and sadness and gah!! it was insane. i've ranted about this in the vfdiscord for ages and ages but i always go back to it, so. i think the strongest and most impactful part of raconteurs is the estranged found family of it all. they're all strangers, for the most part - acquaintances with messy ties who barely know each other. but at the same time, they know each other more than anyone else in the entire world. and there's something so intimate and personal about the understanding between all these characters and the tentative bonds they have, along with the tensions. i think the most incredible part of this is the way all of them interact and care for maisie. each and every one of them shares affection and care for her in some way; all of them find a way to make things just a little better for her, to protect her from everything and to watch out for her. you can see this with mrs. haypotten's protective nature, gregory's carved animals, sorcha playing with the fire, negret's dancing with her... all of them, despite being near strangers, go out of their way to show this little girl kindness. and with jessamy!! it's the ending!! it's her story and it's so indicative of this same thing, this same love that all of them have. it's just such a lovely and emotional way to end the book, and it's so fitting, too. the book is, above all, about stories. and i think, at the same time, it's about how the stories act as a way to connect people, to uplift them and to share their emotions and to build these bridges during the worst of times. and the choice to end the book in such a way just... leaves the most fitting and perfect uplifting and bittersweet and hopeful note. ugh. i love it.

i just realized how insanely long this post is. oops!! i think i will stop there for now, because it's so long but also because i don't have my copy with me to check details or look at any of the other stories right now. but!! this was very very fun to answer and i always have a million raconteurs emotions in my head so. thank you for the ask !!! <3

#the raconteurs commonplace book #raconteurs commonplace book #greenglass house #nagspeake #kate milford #trcpb #asks #ty for the ask #this was very fun #i might drop more art later or like. a bunch of my playlists #im in the raconteurs mood again ty anon

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bloodfueled · 8 months

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getting the "deacon disliked that" notif when doing the paint quest for abbot is so funny. try injecting a little whimsy into your life for once man what did you want me to do. tell the old guy to go fuck himself ?

#.txt #haters stay mad i hqve a kind and empathetic nature

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monstersdownthepath · 3 years

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WARNING: If you are at all triggered by child abuse (of any form), do not look into any content regarding Folca.

Time and time again I find myself running into issues when doing the Demigod Dossier for the Daemon Harbingers. There’s a handful of tasteless entities among the Evil demigods of every stripe in the Complete Book of the Damned but none, to my knowledge, have evoked the kind of disgust and fury that Folca, the Gaunt Stranger, has across Pathfinder’s fandom.

It’s disturbing, in a way, that Folca is not only one of the extremely few Harbingers to have been given art, above even the more famous ones like Llamolaek, Pavnuri, and Cixyron, but his lore blurb is nearly twice as long as most other Harbingers in the book, signifying that a lot more thought and design space had been given to him. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it feels like he was almost pushed into the spotlight in a kind of... “Look at how edgy and dark we can be” effort that early 2000s Paizo designs did to try and appear mature in a ‘15 year old edgelord’ way, such as with the Ogres. Just another thing retconned and changed, left to implication rather than spelled outright... except Paizo “changed” Folca by promising to never bring him up ever again, effectively erasing him from continuity.

Which I, personally, am of two minds of. Please do get rid of the child abuse demon, yes, but it feels like a waste of an honestly interesting design (I’m a sucker for faceless, well-dressed chaps for reasons I can only blame the Slender Man for) and an interesting, even amusing divine portfolio (who would expect a daemonic horror to have sweets in its areas of concern?) to just toss him into the garbage. I’d prefer a lore rewrite and, if we’re being honest, not just one for Folca, but for almost all the Harbingers as a whole. The daemons represent a soul’s fury at deaths they view as unfair or undeserved, twisted into nihilistic hatred that eventually becomes omnicidal mania... which makes a lot of Harbingers make little sense, as many of them seem to represent taboos, fears, or specific depravities (which is more the department of the Div, the Sahkil, and the Oni) rather than tragic or unfair demises. Below the cut is my take on what a Folca more in line with that logic would look like.

TW for implications of child death below the cut, as this post is still specifically about Folca, as I personally change him into something more fitting with the Harbingers.

I’d make a case for moving him into the Sahkil Tormentors to represent a parent’s fear of losing their child to the cruelty of another. If he HAD to stay in among the Harbingers, though, I’d put him in the circle of Famine, in a distinctly and cruelly ironic sense which also keeps in line with my personal design philosophy about monsters embodying specific topics. A maker of candies whose every sweet and treat carries death within it, left within easy reach of young and/or trusting hands. All the best ingredients, as well, come from local sources; bones boiled into broth then further down to a gel, fats whipped into creams, all mixed with sugary sweet blood to make the frostings and syrups that go into every batch.

That, or going the route of the Bagmen or the Gingerbread Witch and turning whole bodies of the dead or captured directly into products. The victims you can see pushing against the inside of his skin in his picture likely met this fate, their bodies slowly turning into sweets (or raw materials) within his body, or alternately are eaten after being turned into living candy simulacra. This has the amusing side effect of turning Folca into a daemonic patissier, which personally I like. From an abhorrent and needlessly edgy figure to the still-admittedly-really-edgy daemon deacon of those who use their victim’s stomachs to bring about their ends, those who use a veil of harmless whimsy to mask a knife or net, and those who play on and twist the trust of others. The Boogeyman figure ready to snatch misbehaving or unlucky children and turn them into candy and cake.

New Folca

Alignment: NE Pantheon: Daemon Harbingers[/Sahkil Tormentor] Areas of Concern: Abduction, Strangers, Sweets Domains: Charm*, Evil, Travel, Trickery Subdomains: Daemon[/Sahkil], Ambush, Deception, Captivation** Favored Weapon: Net Symbol: Skeletal handful of sweets Sacred Animal: Black stork Sacred Color: Black, blue

*if you really want to stamp out all the remains of the old Folca, change Charm to Artifice and Captivation to Alchemy.

Obedience: Leave something sweet that you have poisoned in a place where someone, especially a child, may find it. Boon: Gain a +2 profane bonus to Charisma checks, and to Craft (Alchemy) and Craft (Cooking) checks.

Boon 1: Extended Beguiling Gift Boon 2: Poison Boon 3: Veil

#Pathfinder #tw child abuse

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its-sixxers · 4 years

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Deacon for the ask meme!

002 | Give me a character & I will tell you

How I feel about this character:

So fun fact: I didn’t like Deacon much when I first nabbed him as a companion! I have a somewhat short tolerance for whimsy and I initially thought he was just a ‘lol so random’ guy. And then those affinity convos started happening and I learned a little more about him from random npcs and

I made a post about this before, but Deacon’s whole ‘be irreverent and goofy to distract people and keep them happy’ coping mechanism resonates with me hard. I do / have done the same sort of thing - using masks of a different sort.

The mystery around him adds an interesting level of depth and turns Bethesda’s - let’s be charitable here - vague writing into a strength. They sprinkle in a few possibilities and let your imagination run away with the rest.

I feel like he’s a great character to see through the lens of fandom, because there’s very few ways you can have a ‘wrong’ interpretation of him. Every single ship and headcanon out there I can go “you know what I can see that” to. Having a guy that flexible but still having a very clear and concrete character? I love it.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

My ride or die is Sole x Deacon, because there’s nothing better to bond over than dead spouses and being horrifically alone in the world. Also I feel like Deacon’s irreverence is something Sole is in desperate need of - the events that have happened to them are absolutely insane and there’s only two options, really - you laugh or you cry. At the same time, they’re proof that there’s still good in the world and inspiring enough to get Deacon to open up a little and try to be someone again.

Danse x Deacon is another good one. Enemies to lovers is a trope I adore, and also having the two sad boys explore humanity and identity together? Yespls.

I’ve also recently been informed of the X6 x Deacon ship and I’m into it for similar reasons but with the fucked upness turned to 11. Kind of the dark mirror of a Danse x Deacon ship, if that makes sense - but a happy ending where X6 finally breaks free of his conditioning would be real cool.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

BroTP will always be Deacon + Glory. I headcanon them as having a sibling rivalry dynamic going on. They have uh, very different approaches to tackling things and I’m sure they’ve had many arguments over said approaches.

Deacon + Mac, Deacon + Preston, Deacon + Hancock all as honorable mentions. Mac and Hancock being a slightly more hostile BroTP rivalry thing, Preston’s a sweet baby angel and I feel like his idealism works really with with Deacon’s hidden optimism.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Sad Deacon > Fun Deacon. sorry

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

Having him comment on your spouse if you take him into the vault would have been nice but I understand the reason for the silence. More insight into the Railroad’s practices with him would have been cool. More ‘undercover’ work also would have been amazing.

Oh yes and of course a romance would’ve been cool and I’m forever sad about that.

my OTP:

Sole x Deacon I am a simple woman.

my cross over ship:

HMMMMMM. I don’t really do cross over ships (outside of a game series) so I’m literally thinking up an answer to this rn. Wait holdup coming back to this a bit later:Atton Rand from KOTOR2.

Same kind of smooth demeanor covering up a very bad past. They’d get along great.

a headcanon fact:

As time goes by I like to lean into the idea that Deacon’s more to blame for his wife’s death than he lets on. Maybe he caused it inadvertently, but I headcanon the situation’s a lot more fucked up and that he won’t ever be able to tell the truth about it.

Question Meme

#ask #thank u for letting me ramble about the egg #i love him so much and can talk about him forever #nukasoda

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 years

Video

youtube

ARIANA GRANDE FT. NICKI MINAJ - THE LIGHT IS COMING

[6.36]

It's Ariana Gran-Day! Starting off with this Nicki duet, containing an unexpected sample...

Rebecca A. Gowns: The sample is fascinating. It reminds me of the baby coo in "Are You That Somebody"; a non-musical sound transformed into a musical refrain, then multiplied so often it becomes the beat itself. And seemingly not connected to the actual content of the song... or is it? Like, is "Are You That Somebody" really about making babies? (Not just euphemistically, but about conception itself?) And is this song really an anti-establishment taunt? (Not just the music industry, but the clowns in Congress, if you will?) Well, who the hell knows. The music here is so much more fascinating than the lyrical content; the man yells about not being interrupted between stringent beep-bop-boop sounds crossing over from Dan Deacon territory. Honestly, it's reminiscent of a certain other pop/rap song that could also be called equal turns annoying, political, and just plain fun. And like that song, I like it even when it starts to grate. Maybe even because it's grating -- like, thank God established pop artists take risks like this sometimes. [8]

Katherine St Asaph: Gather around, folks, for a recent history lesson! The man sampled all over "The Light Is Coming," Craig Miller, was part of a Tea Party-organized, "almost entirely white and irritable" crowd protesting an 2009 Arlen Specter town hall in soon-to-flip-red Pennsylvania. The protest was against Obamacare, but it devolved almost immediately into more general right-wing bullshit. You can watch the whole thing on C-SPAN, if you're short on despair. Lowlights include: "What about this Guantanamo closure? ... The [mispronounced] Koar-ann says that all unbelievers shall be executed, killed. That's why I cannot support Islam." "He's right." (43:56); cheering at "we can take the non-U.S. citizens and give them an airplane ticket and ship them back" (38:47); even louder cheering at "the illegals, they shouldn't even be here" (18:34), and, toward the end (1:13:13), a familiar refrain: "The people in this room want their country back." One of them felt the need to clarify that she didn't have "any Nazi symbols with [her]" (7:45), perhaps because the previous day, in Georgia, someone painted a swastika outside Democratic representative David Scott's office after his town hall. Do I think Pharrell -- who also sampled Specter's own remarks in "Lemon" -- is maliciously sneaking far-right propaganda into our children's pop music? No, of course not. Maybe he just thought it sounded cool. But including a sample this obscure, this prominently, must have some point, and choosing one so politically charged brings in connotations -- connotations that just don't play nice with the light/darkness/taking-back/theft imagery and taunting delivery of "the light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole." It doesn't help that the Manchester bombing, which every Sweetener interview unavoidably alludes to, was quickly exploited by the far right. It also doesn't help that Grande's verses don't rebut but echo Miller, targeting someone who's a "know-it-all" (see other protesters' gripes about "elitists" and a bill written above "junior high school" language), who's irrational and doesn't listen, who's "tellin' everyone, stay woke" -- sides clearly assigned. The beat is great, the most inventive and sinuous Pharrell's sounded in years, but it's wasted on -- what, exactly? Both-sidesing? A Producers-esque attempt to squash innovation in pop with a bizarre sample set up to fail? Or inadvertently (I hope) something more reactionary than anything Taylor Swift's ever released? It could be worse. The track's a "Sleazy"/"Dark Horse"/"Jewels 'n' Drugs" urban crossover attempt, for which Grande's team "auditioned eight rappers," one of whom may have been much-streamed XXXTentacion. Nicki's winning verse, self-promotion and fuckboy dissing written remotely, doesn't engage with the song at all, which is probably for the best. As for fan consensus? Seems to be: "Will that old guy please STFU?" [2]

Vikram Joseph: Ladies and gentlemen, 2018's most bizarre sampling decision! I've read the context behind the "You wouldn't let anybody speak, and instead..." quote, and it still makes minimal sense to loop it continuously behind what's otherwise a seductive, abrasive, very N.E.R.D. throb of a beat. Thematically, it seems to be an attempt to take down condescension and echo-chamber complacency in debate ("if it ain't your view, that's the bottom line"); this is ambitious, and only occasionally hits the mark, too often stumbling into jumbled nonsense such as "give you a box of chances, every time you blow it all". Nicki Minaj, meanwhile, is relegated to a brief, off-topic turn in the intro. And all the while, that shouty man keeps shouting (and, god, I really can't emphasise enough what a strange choice of sample this is). Good Beat, B.A.A.D. Decisions. [5]

Tobi Tella: I mean, you don't know how HARD I tried to like this. Coming off their three amazing previous collaborations, this should've been great. But there's so much about this I don't like: the repetitive chorus, the weird way she sings so you can't actually understand a word she's saying, the sample of a conservative yelling? It's all just off-putting and irritating to me. Nicki gets in the best line of the song with "Yo Ariana come let give you a high five", but even her solid verse can't save the trainwreck around her. [3]

Abdullah Siddiqui: Little about this track is normal for a Top 40 single. And I find that very refreshing. The hook is effective, in that it hasn't left the back of my mind in weeks. The instrumental is beautifully minimalistic; the drum sequence at the start reminds me of Björk's "Heirloom". I love when the track kicks into double time. Minaj delivers a few solid bars at the top. Grande doesn't rely too much on her vocal tricks for this one, and it works to the song's benefit. The track is not without its flaws, however. It feels somewhat structurally underdeveloped. The "you wouldn't let anybody speak" is a bit overused, and it feels particularly misplaced during the verses. But these flaws are not by any means fatal. This is definitely one of Grande's most adventurous releases, and I'd go so far as to say, one of her best. [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Aside from Nicki Minaj, whose tacked-on verse sounds less like its own contribution and more like another mandatory installment in the "Chun-Li" cinematic universe, all the many moving parts here end up making a lot of sense. Ariana's vocal performance darts between the little open spaces of Pharrell's beat, expanding and contracting as he brings in bizarro-bounce elements (including a sample from an anti-Obamacare town hall, of all things.) It's almost interesting enough as a pure physical feat, the way she moves from taunting cadences to breathy whispers to damn-near belting on a second's notice, but fortunately there's a good enough song as scaffolding around her too, one that provides enough structure to support "the light is coming" in its pursuit of weird pop glory. [7]

Alex Clifton: Ariana seems to be reinventing pop this year; the work off of Sweetener so far is the most eclectic stuff I've heard on the charts in quite some time. Where "No Tears Left to Cry" refused to resolve in any particular tonality (major or minor? why not both!), "The Light Is Coming" stutters and glitches with a sample of an irate citizen from hearings over Obamacare paired with video game beeps and boops. On paper, it shouldn't work, and it doesn't overwhelm me the way that all of Ariana's best tracks have in the past. But in practice it ends up sounding like a dystopian dance song/spoken word poem, which in 2018 feels like a real mood. Ariana and Nicki work well together as always although once Nicki's initial verse is gone she's out of the song for good; she could've come back pretty easily, and that would've made for some nice vocal interplay. But the more I hear of Ariana's music the more I keep wanting to hear, even when it misses the mark. It's been a while since I've seen a Pop Diva experiment so boldly away from her typical formula, and I'm revelling in every moment of it. [6]

Ashley John: The dismembered corpses of pure pop hooks and Pennsylvania politics roughly stitched together with a Pharrell beat is as close to a summary of Me as a song can get, so I'm partial to and suspicious of it right away. "The Light is Coming" should feel gimmicky, like Ariana is rushing in a rebellious phase, but instead it hits closer to a teaser--of what I am not sure. A Lorde song without the specificity or the groove, a Gwen Stefani track without the whimsy, and in those places just a hollow, trembling core. The track feels like it could collapse in on itself at any point, and actually, how fitting for a chorus of chanted, demanded optimism. [7]

Alfred Soto: A gesture -- an attempt to coalesce Pharrellistic effects around a would-be aphorism. One of the effects is Nicki Minaj. [6]

Thomas Inskeep: The beat, the slightly off-kilter rhythm was nagging at me, and then once I looked up the credits it made sense: it's Pharrell. And what he's brought for Ariana here is Trio's "Da Da Da" cut with Hot Butter's 1972 smash "Popcorn"! And then, on top of that, Minaj drops a solid opening 12 bars before Grande cuts loose with a message of positivity -- the chorus is "the light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole" -- that's obviously another reference to Manchester. And it works. I hope this hits on radio, because it'll sound glaringly different, and radio needs more of that right now. [7]

Will Rivitz: Man, Pharrell can't miss, can he? No one quite does the minimal beat like he does, and the versatility of his productions -- fitting everyone from Clipse to Ed Sheeran -- is on full display here, addictive vocal sample and all. Of course, it helps that everything else clicks, too: Ariana's finally embracing her "sardonic" side in her music, Nicki's verse is serviceable and appropriate if not particularly memorable, and the eerie nonchalance of the chorus perfectly encapsulates the song's uncanny ambience. Dangerous Woman is one of the best pop albums of the decade, and if Grande's current singles are any indication, Sweetener could be even better. [9]

Stephen Eisermann: Pharrell's production has been a bit shaky lately, but here his experimentation works. Nicki gives a perfectly serviceable verse to Pharrell's noisy beat, but it's Ariana's commitment and sass that elevates the track. To take on a track this playful, you need an artist who is willing and able to dance along to the track and Ariana is no slacker; even if the song is a bit weird thematically, sonically it's a gem and I'll be dancing along all summer. [7]

Maxwell Cavaseno: The unlikely world where I can imagine if Ariana thought the kind of music that came out of Ghostly International at the start of the decade would be the perfect sort of music to top the charts. Nevertheless, she's utterly at home, crooning and yammering through the strange pinball playground of her design, and to make the retrofitting all the more complete, you have Nicki doing her best to remember when she last sounded interesting... way back at the dawn of the decade. [7]

Pedro João Santos: It's a idiosyncratic mix of atypical vocal restraint by Ariana, boundless structure and glitchy, angular production courtesy of Pharrell. The verses are amorphous and abstract; Nicki makes a perfunctory but reliable appearance; the circular hook is repeated ad infinitum. Somehow, it all amounts to moderate success, after the brilliant "No Tears Left to Cry", even despite the appalling sample, which might serve for texture, but not much else. At least, it led to interview gold: "Is Ariana Grande a Christian?", the man whose voice was sampled, unbeknownst to him, asks an MTV reporter; his wife Karen sensibly replies: "Craig, I think she's more like Madonna." [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Ariana Grande #Nicki Minaj #pop #music reviews

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incarnationsf · 3 years

Photo

Incarnation Radio Hour presents Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Nursery Alice.’

Published in 1890, ‘The Nursery Alice,’ is a shortened version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll, adapted by the author himself for children “from nought to five”. It includes 20 of John Tenniel’s illustrations from the original book, redrawn, enlarged, colored – and, in some cases, revised – by Tenniel himself. The book was published by Macmillan a quarter-century after the original Alice.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel by English author Lewis Carroll. It tells of a young girl named Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole into a subterranean fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.

The Radio Hour will share a reading of ‘The Nursery Alice’ along with John Tenniel’s illustrations.

Date & Time: Wednesday April 14, 4 p.m. PDT Free admission. Donations gratefully accepted. Click here for details. Register here for zoom call details.

LEWIS CARROLL (1832–1898)

Renowned Victorian author Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson on January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire, England. The son of a clergyman, Carroll was the third child born to a family of eleven children. From a very early age he entertained himself and his family by performing magic tricks and marionette shows, and by writing poetry for his homemade newspapers. In 1846 he entered Rugby School, and in 1854 he graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford. He was successful in his study of mathematics and writing, and remained at the college after graduation to teach. His mathematical writings include An Elementary Treatise on Determinants (1867), Euclid and His Modern Rivals (1879), and Curiosa Mathematica (1888). While teaching, Carroll was ordained as a deacon; however, he never preached.

Many of Carroll’s philosophies were based on games. His interest in logic came purely from the playful nature of its principle rather than its uses as a tool. He primarily wrote comic fantasies and humorous verse that was often very childlike. Carroll published his novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, followed by Through the Looking Glass in 1872. Alice’s story began as a piece of extemporaneous whimsy meant to entertain three little girls on a boating trip in 1862. Both of these works were considered children’s novels that were satirical in nature and in exemplification of Carroll’s wit. Also famous is Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky,” in which he created nonsensical words from word combinations. Carroll died in Guildford, Surrey, on January 14, 1898.

#lewis carroll #alice in wonderland #nursery alice #childrensliterature #childrensillustration #childrensbooks #fantasy #episcopal church #episcopal #episcopalian #The Episcopal Church #anglican church #anglican #Anglican Communion #lewis carroll society

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thatoneplumbob · 10 months

Text

chester came to meet the dogs! *currently, and forver, sobbing*

#ts4 #ts4 vanilla #ts4 gameplay #gen 2 #whimsy stories legacy challenge #deacon whimsy #chester whimsy #yogi whimsy #waffle whimsy

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purkinje-effect · 7 years

Text

The Purkinje Effect, 16

Table of Contents

Hancock had paid Geek entirely in caps for the reconnaissance task, a first for the pink ex-vault dweller. He’d known the Commonwealth now used caps, but up until that point they’d always been a matter of supplementary funds for bartering. The two kicked around Goodneighbor for just over two days while Hancock ensured his house was in the best order it could be, and Geek... well, he started warming to being called that.

He bought himself a full set of sturdy leather armor which Daisy offered for sale, and reinforced the whole thing with a few extra layers of fabric inside, adding as many pockets as he could, wherever they’d be comfortable against his skin. Anything could be useful now in the wastes, he reasoned. Especially as the landscape shifted to grey the definition of edible. Besides, this way he could leave the duffel behind, and rely more upon himself. A few extra pockets inside his jumpsuit didn’t hurt, either.

You’re gonna want a gun, Geek remembered the mayor commenting before the two parted to wrap up business in the area. Even if y’don’t use it, you’re gonna want to bring one. And make sure you clean Daisy outta bobby pins. No tellin’ what trouble we’ll end up getting into. An odd laundry list, for sure, but he heeded the suggestions, and in addition to seven snippets of crimped wire, he also nabbed a .44 bull barrel pistol and two boxes of bullets. At the very least, they’d be emergency rations if they found themselves in a spot where food for him was scarce. He kept the bobby pins in a pocket he’d put in the side of his left boot, as far away from his absent appetite as he could manage. The fistful of caps he had left after upgrading his attire and arms went in his zippered thigh cargo pocket, to the same effect. The only thing he purchased for food rations was the lone carton of shortening Daisy had left. She adored that he was making such use of the Is It Food or Not? section of her shelves of stock. He hadn’t yet started reading the book she’d given him, but when she asked, he insisted he’d have the time for it while he and the mayor were away for a week or two.

When he and the mayor were to head out, Hancock did not port the crushed red velvet coat, or tricorner cap. Instead now wearing a tailored black leather road jacket and jeans, the hairless ghoul strode up to Geek, who’d been lingering with a bottle of whiskey in the Third Rail, waiting up on him. It was a dead time between performances, the dusty subway air filled only with the sounds of quiet chatter and a faint radio from the VIP lounge in the back.

“So we gonna get this show on the road?” the ghoul smirked, glancing furtively at him. Geek gave him a sly look and got up, taking the half-finished fifth with him.

“Let’s do it,” he affirmed, slurring a bit as the two ascended the stairs to exit the subway and skip town.

The pink Pinoy couldn’t much believe the mayor himself had eagerly agreed to travel with him. And he’d thought the historical attire had suited him well. The sweat was hard to hide as they walked north along the front face of the town.

“Two options,” Hancock remarked as they got to the first intersection, the one with the neon signs. “You feel like a lotta raiders, or a handful of Gunners?” He’d casually pulled out a hunting rifle from his jacket, eyeing the western route.

“I got through Haymarket Square all right, but seems you think risking the Gunner attention is warranted.”

“I tend to favor cutting in front of Mass Fusion whenever I leave out. Half the time, there’s not even anybody on guard. They’re too cocky about having occupied the plant. They haven’t even been bright enough to cut off our power supply lines from it, either.”

So they took that route, cutting left, then immediately right. The piles of sandbag walls still fortified the front entrance as before, as well as a few appropriated military green ballistics screens, vandalized in white with the grotesque skull the Gunners bore as their insignia. One pair of these screens blocked off the first left turn, but a high wall of sandbags as well as the gut of a rusted out car blockaded the next intersection. As Hancock had told, there was no one on duty out front of the nuclear facility as they passed through: merely an untended lantern and a miscellany of weather-rotted patio furniture.

“See? What’d I tell ya,” Hancock remarked quietly, trying to make his mind up which way to go from there. The ghoul’s dark, scleric eyes were hiding something, but Geek couldn’t tell what it might be, though he figured any paranoia must have been the whiskey he still nursed. “Here, let’s go left.”

Doing so, Geek walked along with him, the bottle empty by that point. Out of habit, he deposited in the next rubbish bin he crossed. His face screwed up, and he proceeded to fake that he’d intended to rummage through it for anything useful. Effectively he traded out the glass for four tin cans, which he stomped flat and added to a chest pocket for later. Hancock simply stood nearby and observed, badly hiding his amusement at his inebriated travel partner.

“Left here again,” Hancock called out after a few blocks. He hoped Geek was drunk enough not to notice they were now headed south, when the meetup location Deacon had provided Geek had been northwest of Lexington. "You’re sure this isn’t as time sensitive as it sounds.”

Now at the paved walkway along the shore of the River Charles, they approached a corner with a number of cast iron lamp posts, and a bricked embankment. The rotted-out skyscrapers imposed them to the left, the shadow of the Route 2 overpass to the right. A low fog had started to set in over the waterway, creeping up along the cobbled pavement.

“He told me he’ll wait for me until the end of the week,” Geek insisted. “We don’t gotta run the whole way, I swear.”

“Left here,” Hancock guided once more, following the side street in past the lamp posts. They passed several skeletons of automobiles, no longer more than rust. With one that had once been a van to their right, an eighteen-wheeler just ahead of them, having trapped itself in the perpendicular dead end side street. Hancock stopped before the multi-storied blue business building, and sat in the patio chair directly outside it, pulling out a flask to observe Geek while he whet his lips with something.

“Y’need t’stop already?” Geek wondered, looking around slowly. “That, that’s ok.” He sat on the wooden bench opposite the building, and took out a flattened can to snip it into strips for a snack.

“It is almost cute that you have no idea where we are,” the ghoul grunted, stretching. “And here you said you’d exhausted all the places you knew where to look for answers. When you didn’t object to my detour, it was obvious to me you either hadn’t been this way before, or you really hadn’t scouted it out yet. So here we are. Boston’s Vault-Tec Regional HQ.”

As the significance soaked in, Geek looked up from his gloved hands in a daze.

“Ready up, though. I see people treat this place like a live grenade. Guess we’re going to find out why.”

Geek armed himself with both fists and they entered. The lobby had an elevator to the right, and a hallway to the left of the reception desk which seemed to have offices. Three feral ghouls jumped them not five feet into the building, lunging for their faces.

Hancock shot one right in the face and kicked it in the chest to make sure it crumpled backwards. Steadying his aim to take out a second one, he seethed, “Had to be ferals.” Then, he fired again.

Geek slammed the third ghoul in the jaw with his mallet-knuckleduster, which he’d affectionately endeared the title of Left Hook, and sent the warped and naked wretch to land near the first feral Hancock had downed. The two made a pile of the three, and Geek walked back behind the reception desk with a huff.

Most of the papers scattered around had disintegrated or plastered themselves to the surfaces where they’d rested, if they hadn’t fallen to the floor. Geek helped himself to the pumpkin candy bucket on the desk, producing from it gumdrops. He popped a few in his mouth and sucked on the tough sugar-coated chunks.

“I tend t’forget it happened right before Halloween.” He sniffed and started going through the receptionist desk drawers as well as those of the two desks back-to-back behind it, finding little actually on printed paper. A wad of ballpoint pens and a few file cabinet keys later, he nearly slipped on something in the floor. He bent down, and stood holding a yellow ball of Bakelite. “...Billiards balls?” There were several on the floor, on closer inspection. He kept all of them.

“What are you even plannin’ on doing with those?” Hancock mumbled in a dubious whimsy. “Next you’re gonna tell me you can fit your fist in your mouth.”

The only response the ghoul received as Geek wandered off down the hallway was a nonchalant, over the shoulder “You can’t?”

Hancock exhaled hard out his nose with his mouth clamped shut, not sure whether Geek was joking, but he abruptly laughed it off and followed. The pink fool had come across what had been the company’s break room, outfitted with a refrigerator, seating, and several appliances, all no longer in commission. Over half the ceiling directly above it had caved in, the metallic prefab panel forming a slope one could scale to the next story. Geek already had gotten to the top of it by the time Hancock caught up, and was rummaging the various desks on the second floor.

“Do you know what we’re even lookin’ for?” the ghoul asked. “Not t’be pointed or anything, but it seems like this place is fulla nothin’ but junk.”

Geek looked up from the desk he’d been rifling through, caught with his mouth full of pens. He swallowed before responding.

“You don’t know either? That’s reassuring.”

“Mmh, oh hey, a terminal.” Hancock poked his head into a side office. “Watch your step right in front of it, but maybe--” Geek joined him in the small single office, where the ghoul had sat to browse the entries on the squat-screened box of prewar technology. “...Oh, hm. It’s got a password on it. No. ...No. There it is.” Once he’d cracked into it, the tip of his tongue slipped back into his mouth, and his brow furrowed increasingly. “...The employee that worked from this office had his suspicions Vault-Tec was going to experiment on its tenants. No shit.”

“What do you mean?” Geek sat down on the desk, next to him.

“Well, I’ve heard stories. Really haven’t done much Vault exploring of my own, and the one I do know anything about is 114. What happened with that one probably wasn’t any of Vault-Tec’s doin’. Money laundering kept it from getting completed, but a mob head named Skinny Malone’s got himself holed up in there right now. Might not be one hundred percent, but there’s not much defense quite like a vault door on your hideout.”

“...What kind of stories?”

“I’ve really only heard about Vault 95, but I’ve heard a helluva lot about it. And this guy’s suspicions were nail on the head.” The ghoul wagged a finger at the screen, then proceeded to read from it. “Here: ‘So we just shipped 15 cases of psycho and jet to Vault 95. Of course, that makes total sense... let's give these addicts more of what put them in this situation to begin with. Davidson says it's to force them to make the hard choice, chems or getting clean. I say it's to cause a bloodbath...’ It did exactly that. The vault didn’t die out, man--they killed each other. And here, it says they shipped liquid nitrogen to a Vault 111? ...Which vault was yours?”

“82. Why, did this employee have some kind of magic future sight about 82?” pink dreg’s face soured a bit, sobering up from the gravity of all this.

“Yeah, actually. He was incredulous noticin' the invoice for Vault 82 had half as many hydroponics rigs as were required for the population it was intended to support. ‘When I brought it to Davidson’s attention, he reassured me it was probably a typo, and if they need more, they’ll order it. He also told me that I’m not to question the Vault-Tec’s design insight again, or he’ll take disciplinary action against me. Telling me to my face that gross negligence like that is an oversight. He can’t fire me if I quit first.’”

Geek sat up and tried to process what Hancock had just read him, and his face screwed up tight a moment before he glared at him.

“...No, that ain’t right. There ain’t any hydro-whatsits in my vault. Either that idiot didn’t know what he was lookin’ at, or they never arrived.”

“He seemed convinced of it.” Hancock tried to shrug off the chill Geek gave him. “These entries talk about a guy named Walter in the warehouse downstairs. Maybe he’d have the invoices?”

“I’m not sure I’m gonna like what I find,” he admitted, standing up resignedly. “Let’s get this over with and get outta here.”

Once they got downstairs, he lagged behind a bit. The next sound was a large vase exploding against the wall next to the front door of the lobby.

“Got that outta your system?” the ghoul wondered vaguely, stiff where he stood. “Least give me warning next time.”

“...Yeah. Sorry.” Geek walked ahead of him and pushed the call button on the elevator, which still functioned according to the operating light of the display panel above it. When the door opened with a ding, he ushered Hancock inside.

“No,” Hancock replied dryly, “after you.” The doors shut, and the cab started on its descent. For a moment they stood in silence, arrested by myriad of gnawing. Without build or warning, Hancock produced a cigarette and planted it between Geek’s pursed lips. “You look like you could use this.”

The gesture elicited a heavy sigh, and Geek slouched against the wall of the cab to light it, falling slack.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, sure.” The ghoul was about to offer a light, but Geek beat him to it. The elevator dinged a second time and the doors reopened, but the two lingered while the pink one collected himself a bit better.

The lights were still operating, to their fortune, but the small concrete warehouse, owing to its being a basement, had no windows, and only a loading dock door. It smelled like death and old plastic, and the two of them flinched. Geek took his smoke with him, puffing at it limply as the two browsed the shelves for loot. He stopped and took a long hit off of it and chuckled tiredly, picking up what had gotten his attention with the cigarette between his fingers.

“Hey, Hancock, check it out. A Vault-Tec lunchbox.” He opened it, producing a whimsical party-blower sound. In it was a souvenir magnet of the Vault-Tec insignia, which he swallowed promptly. “Ta-dah.” Before he knew what hit him, he was on the polished concrete floor.

In a whirl of claws and fists, Geek knelt on top of the ghoul and used the floor to add pressure to his punches as he beat the feral ghoul’s skull against it. He recognized he’d done in the feral and caught his breath, but quickly laid in a few more punches. Then, he got up to retrieve his cigarette off the floor just under the shelving where he’d stood and put it back between his lips. He grabbed the lunchbox, too, entitled to it.

“Remind me not t’make you mad,” Hancock joked awkwardly, having been sitting across the room on a palette of toilets watching. “The dock terminal’s up there.” He pointed up the stairs to the elevated landing where the loading dock door was.

Geek sat down in the desk chair when he got up there, already beyond emotionally done with the day. He nearly flung the keyboard when it booted up to another password screen.

“I know you probably gotta hangover right now, but you gotta chill, Geek. Did you try 4, 3, 2, 1?”

“Why would that even work?” Geek muttered sarcastically, trying it anyway. When it worked, he stared in shock. “How?”

“Prewar folks were just as bright as we present day folk, wouldn’t you say?”

Another long span of quiet between them as Geek pored over the files. Hancock briefly excused himself to the facilities located to the other side of the dock door. When he came back out, he found Geek sprawled across the desk with his face mashed into its top, arms hanging off the front. He didn’t sit up when he spoke, his words muffled by his arms and the desk.

“The invoices are all labeled that everything ordered for Vault 82 arrived on site. Where the fuck did they put them.”

“The invoices could’a been doctored,” Hancock offered. “I didn’t see a thing about the incomplete vault I mentioned, in that other employee’s journal entries.”

“No, I gotta gut feelin’ that guy from upstairs was right. You confirmed he got other things right. He might’a seen the stuff about the incomplete vault but didn’t have any evidence to back up his hunch yet. Anybody smart enough to leave a business like the one this place conducted, was smart enough to make sense of all the signs somethin’ was seriously ends-up around here. Still...”

“Come on, unglue yourself from that desk and let’s get movin’. We’ll figure it out. This is just proof we ain’t done sleuthin’. ...Are you really gonna take that with you?” The peanut gallery followed Geek out once a few more terminal commands had raised the dock door for them to exit.

“I hadn’t had one since I was a kid. Dunno what I’m gonna keep in it, but supposing it’s a decent enough souvenir for this little detour you set us on.”

“Food, Geek. Y’keep food in a lunch kit.”

“Right.”

#fallout 4 fanfic #fo4 fanfic #hancock #john hancock #fallout 4 oc #fo4 oc #fallout 4 #the purkinje effect #geek #this turned out waaay longer than i'd anticipated

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stars2day · 4 years

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How the Grimy DIY Gods of 2000s Indie Rock Became … Film Composers?

When you’re making a film that looks to tell the story of the world of competitive dog grooming, you need a score that can match the whimsy of the bright colors and unique designs that convert the canines into living, breathing works of art; the precision of the groomer’s shears and their careful attention to detail; and the anxiety of high-stakes competition.

Enter Dan Deacon.

Deacon is best…

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danithebookaholic-blog · 6 years

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January Authors

I wish I had all the time in the world - and a photographic memory - so I could read all of the books that have ever been written and be able to write a review on all of them, so I could share my love for the written word with you.

Unfortunately, I don't have all the time in the world and I can't read a mile a minute (I'm quite a slow reader, considering how much I read), nor do I have a photographic memory. So, instead I'm going to share those that fall outside of my Pinterest Reading Challenge, Book of the Month, and Audio Book Extras in a monthly form.

The following are just a few authors that were born this month and some of my favorites written by them. This is by no means a complete list. You'll find some classic authors as well as some that are new and up-and-coming. Some are legends while others are as green as the spring grass. Some are dark and mysterious and others are bright and bubbly. And some lost and almost completely forgotten or today's bestseller. All are completely different, and yet each have very one big thing in common: Love for telling a story.

I hope you enjoy this month's Birthday Authors, and maybe find a new read while you're at it!

January 3 - J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkein (January 3, 1892 - September 2, 1973) was an English writer, poet, phiologist, and university professor who is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. (source)

My Favorite: The Hobbit

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. (source)

January 12 - Jack London

John Griffith "Jack" London (January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the world of commercial magazine fiction he was one of the first writers to become a worldwide celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.

Some of his most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen", and of San Francisco Bay area in The Sea Wolf. (source)

My Favorite: The Call of the Wild

Life is good for Buck in Santa Clara Valley, where he spends his days eating and sleeping in the golden sunshine. But one day a treacherous act of betrayal leads to his kidnap, and he is forced into a life of toil and danger. Dragged away to be a sledge dog in the harsh and freezing cold Yukon, Buck must fight for his survival. Can he rise above his enemies and become the master of his realm once again? (source)

I have only read a couple of Jack London's books, and it has been many years since I've done so. This is one author in which I need to explore more!

January 19 - Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) was an Aperican writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.

Some of Poe's most noted works are The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, "Lenore", "The Raven", and The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, Poe's only complete novel. (source)

My Favorite: "Lenore"

"Lenore" originally began as a different poem, "A Paean", and was not published as "Lenore" until 1843.

The poem discusses proper decorum in the wake of the death of a young woman, described as "the queenliest dead that ever died so young." The poem concludes: "No dirge shall I upraise,/ But waft the angel on her flight with a paean of old days!" Lenore's fiance, Guy de Vere, finds it inappropriate to "mourn" the dead; rather, one should celebrate their ascension to a new world. Unlike most of Poe's poems relating to dying women, "Lenore" implies the possibility of meeting in paradise.

The poem may have been Poe's way of dealing with the illness of his wife, Virginia. The dead woman's name, however, may have been a reference to Poe's recently dead brother, William Henry Leonard Poe. (source)

January 25 - Virginia Wolfe

Adeline Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882 - March 28, 1941) was an English writer who is considered one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Born in an affluent household in Kensington, London, she attended the King's College London and was acquainted with the early reformers of women's higher education.

Having been home-schooled for part of her childhood, mostly in English classics and Victorian literature, Woolf began writing professionally in 1900. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. She published her first novel titled The Voyage Out in 1915. Her best-known works include the novels Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and Orlando, and the book-length essay A room of One's Own, with its dictum, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." (source)

Sadly, this is the one author on this list that I have not read any of their work.

January 27 - Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 27, 1832 - January 14, 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice in Wonderland, its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, which includes the poem "Jabberwocky", and the poem The Hunting of the Shark - all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic and fantasy. (source)

My Favorite: Through the Looking-Glass

This 1872 sequel to Lewis Carroll's beloved Alice's Adventures in Wonderland finds the inquisitive heroine in a fantastic land where everything is reversed. Looking-glass land, a topsy-turvy world lurking just behind the mirror over Alice's mantel, is a fantastic realm of live chessmen, madcap kings and queens, strange mythological creatures, talking flowers and puddings, and rude insects. Brooks and hedges divide the lush greenery of looking-glass land into a chessboard, where Alice becomes a pawn in a bizarre game of chess involving Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Lion and the Unicorn, the White Knight, and other nursery-rhyme figures. Promised a crown when she reaches the eighth square, Alice perseveres through a surreal landscape of amusing characters that pelt her with riddles and humorous semantic quibbles and regale her with memorable poetry, including the oft-quoted "Jabberwocky." This handsome, inexpensive edition, featuring the original John Tenniel illustrations, makes available to today's readers a classic of juvenile literature long cherished for its humor, whimsy, and incomparable fantasy. (source)

From one bookaholic to another, I hope I’ve helped you find your next fix. —Dani

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