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imagine-silk · 2 years

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Fallout 4; Taking care of a Teen!Asian!Sole

Travis Miles

He felt like he needed to be a good influence to you, even though he's not older than you by a lot. Around you he grows a bit of a backbone. In the Doug-out he interrupts your conversation with Vadim to take away your shot and yell at him. Only to realize Vadim didn't realize you were a kid and unintentionally pressured you into having one.

In his quest he protected you during the fight and didn't want you to go to save Vadim, but he also knew he couldn't stop you. He didn't want to see you hurt due to something that was technically his fault. Actually punches Vadim before hugging him, calling him stupid for involving himself with raiders.

You would think he would be like an older brother but the role he takes in your life is akin to a father figure. Before you leave Diamond city he checks if you have the supplies to get across the Commonwealth. When you are there he takes you to get noodles, he'll listen to your adventures while eating. You are always welcomed to stay at his house if you don't want to stay at the Doug-out. He's always there to be your rock to lean on or even just to reminisce about life before the war.

Overall, Travis doesn't treat your race as anything because it is very far into the apocalypse, the concepts of race is almost nonexistent. To him you just have features he's seen from a few other people.

Nick Valentine

He remembers before the war, that includes all the Asian hate. Luckily for you, he never believed in calling random citizens 'commie bastards' in fact he's sympathetic. The only real difference in how he treats you is he'll ask about the culture because he knows a very limited amount.

Does help you with the main quest but low-key doesn't give you an option to dismiss him. He hates that a kid was put through this and is subjected to the woes of the Commonwealth. But at the same time he doesn't want to stop you. Productivity is a way of grieving, you lost both your parents, your little brother got kidnapped, and the world ended as you knew it. It wouldn't be right for him to tell you to let it go.

Actually closes the Agency for a while to travel with you. Not that he doesn't trust you, of course not, he doesn't trust everyone else. This is the Commonwealth, land of 'get mauled by a radiated bear' and home of the 'I'll kill you for a fancy-lad'. The world's not in the best place for someone who's not equipped.

Deacon

When Des recruited you he thought she was joking and was really surprised when she put you to the test with him supervising. After the mission he knew you could handle yourself but talking to you made him realize the gravity of you being a kid, and it hit him like a bus. He yelled at Des, away from everyone of course but she was less than pleased. The Railroad couldn't afford to be picky, he knew that, but using a kid who wanted to find their baby brother was a new all time low.

He jokingly asked if you were a spy before the war and immediately regretted it. The look of pure shame on your face was unforgettable to him. He apologized real fast. You forgave him but he beat himself up about it for the next week.

He didn't want to get attached to you, he didn't want you to get attached to him. But he did and you did. Not from a lack of trying. He did the whole 'you can't trust everyone' shtick but you just kinda stuck with him. To be fair, what teenager wouldn't find him cool as hell? Dude Agent 47 his way through the Commonwealth.

[Got this pic from Pinterest X ]

#Fallout 4 #male reader #female reader #gender neutral y/n #fallout 4 #fallout imagines #fallout x reader #companions react #nick valentine #travis miles #deacon fo4

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nukacola-cowboy · 3 years

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Shaun in Fallout 4 is such a tragic character in regards to the fact he never had a chance to be anything but a pawn for the Institute. He was immediately stolen from his parents arms and raised in a sterile, loveless environment where he was groomed and brainwashed into being some kind of near-emotionless dictator. He has very little regard for human life, even his own parents’, and doesn’t comprehend the devastation of the lives he’s taking ( or does and doesn’t care anyways, but the way he refuses to see his parents death as genuine murder makes me think he doesn’t ). And this isn’t me going “poor baby mass murderer didn’t mean it” because regardless of how he was raised, Shaun was an absolute monster who kidnapped, tortured, and killed on such a massive scale.

But in the back of his mind, he really does seem to have like. A longing for something. Maybe it’s love or acceptance or some kind of human connection, because he makes a child synth specifically to hold HIS child memories, under the impression one day that child will be given to you to parent. Almost like he’s trying to fulfill some kind of life he never got to have with you. It feels like some part of Shaun is desperate for another world where he didn’t grow up like that.

And it’s tragic for the SS because you go through hell and heartbreak to find your son, watch your spouse be murdered and have the man that did it taunt you, go on a wild goose chase with the false hope your young child who you still have a future with is out there, only for you to be gifted a monster who’s doomed to die of an illness in weeks after you’ve found him. It feels so hopeless.

And you get Synth Shaun in the end, but it really is just another reminder your actual son is dead and was raised to be a weapon of mass destruction who terrorized an entire state for years. Synth Shaun is very cute but he really just stands as a reminder for me personally my Shaun is dead and I never really got him back. Idk shit sucks man

#text

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dewdlebot · 3 years

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I love Fallout 4, really I do. But man if I had one wish it would be that the game didn’t start with an immediate issue. Because I feel like I shouldn’t do anything else until I find Shaun.

Ok hold on let me back up for a second, when I say immediate issue I mean one that the player would find harder to ignore, it’s still an open world game and even in Skyrim and the previous fallout games you could still fuck off and do whatever right up until the very end regardless of how big a threat was.

But like, compare FO4’s first issue to FO3’s and Skyrim’s. (For the purpose of this I’m intentionally leaving out New Vegas and focusing entirely on Bethesda’s stuff)

FO3: You have to find your father!

-your father is a grown man who made an intentional decision to go out into the wasteland and as a result was probably well equipped to handle it, not to mention at this point in the story you have no idea if he knew the rest of the vault would try to kill you once he left.

Skyrim: Dragons are returning!

-and you are an escaped fugitive that almost had your head cut off. What are you supposed to do about it? Heck the game itself gives you an out by having Ralof/Hadvar say that you should split up and lie low for a bit the moment you exit the cave.

FO4: Your baby has been kidnapped

-Yeah that’s a big deal, your baby isn’t even a year old yet, he can’t take care of himself, and last time you saw the world outside the vault, bombs were falling. Plus the people that took him are in hazmat suits, what are they planning to do to him?

FO3 and Skyrim both start with an ignorable issue, you don’t feel like you have to be entirely invested right from the start and can ease yourself into exploring the world at your own pace without feeling bogged down by the story just yet. Whereas I immediately feel like I’m doing something wrong if I’m not rushing to find Shaun at every given opportunity.

But I’m also not a game developer and wouldn’t know how to fix this without changing the story severely outside of possibly having it so that the spouse gets taken with Shaun, which might kill Kellogg’s impact. I guess you could have it that the vault scientists weren’t dead before they get there and Kellog kills them instead?

Idk man I just wanna play through Fallout 4 without a nagging in my brain that my kid is probably getting experimented on while I’m busy rearranging the furniture in my settlement dungeons.

#Fallout 4 #Fallout 3 #Skyrim #Bethesda #another thrilling episode in man I wish read mores were available on mobile

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agl03 · 5 years

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Can you put all your Season 7 theories in one place?

Hi Anon,

Sure, they are a bit all over the place on my blog right now. As always some bit of information could show up tomorrow and change things.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Season 7 is going to have almost a “monster of the week format” but rather than monster of the week its ‘saving this point/person in history” this week. With every mission weaving into the major and overarching story of the stopping the Chronicoms and setting up the end.

Some points in time/people will be super big/important/involved and might take a couple of episodes to resolve.

Eras, point in time, or people on my radar.

1930/31 Premiere a Governor FDR or young Stark, Rogers are targets. Whatever happens here is what eventually leads to Shield coming about and why the Chronicoms are messing with it.

1940/50 This is where they pick up Envers AKA Sousa. Again NO Peggy sorry folks I am not seeing it. Here w could also see the Playground again....sniff....and again the Chronicoms are targeting Shield before it fully gets off the ground and established.

1960/70 General Stoner and the set up of the Lighthouse

Young Phil Coulson once the Chronicoms realize who Shield is using for their intel.

The Fall in Season 1

Events of Daisy Becoming Inhuman in Season 2 also a chance for Cal/Jaiying to return.

Hive Season 3

Darkhold, Ghost Rider, Radicliffe, AIDA, Framework Season 4

Graviton Season 5

Stopping Fitzsimmons from escaping Season 6

People on my radar to return or be targets:

Young Coulson

Stoner- Confirmed

FDR- Confirmed TV Line

Sousa- Confirmed Ming

Fury just now sure how they go about that one

Talbot

Robbie

Bobbi

Hunter

Radcliffe

AIDA

Cal

Jaiying

Trip

Ward...in some version

Mace

Polly/Robin

Fitz (he’s hidden for a reason)

Davis

Piper

Flint *He had better gotten his tacos

Koenig

Mike/Deathlock

They pay tribute to the actors who have passed on like Bill and Powers

“We had time” Fitzsimmons had up to 5 years with Enoch to make the upgrades and plans they did. This time possibly covering the Snap as well.

Fitzsimmons had a child during this time is my out there die on the hill I shouldn’t be so attached too theory but here we are. The child could be nearly 5 if Jemma was pregnant int he finale.

The Child is in hiding with Fitz.

Option 2 is they allowed themselves to be put pack in those mind things from Inescapable or the Framework in order to get a lot of work done in an shorter amount of time.

Either way they had time together before they had to say goodbye for what will be the last time.

Fitzsimmons watched the team, their family, die in the temple originally as they wouldn’t have gotten out before the Chronicoms blew it up had Jemma not arrived when she did. Meaning Mack, Elena, Daisy, and Deke died along with May.

This loss of their family could have also provided them for crossing lines they might now have wanted to previously in terms of Time Travel, LMD’s, and whatever else they have up their sleeves.

Also looking for this to have an effect on how Jemma is with Deke in Season 7. She’ll need him more than ever having to be separated from Fitz and possibly child Something he started they will have finished too.

Their first “saving time” mission was saving the core team from the temple.

Fitz will eventually be discovered and captured/kidnapped

Robo Coulson 2.0 gets captured/kidnapped

We haven’t seen the last of the Monoliths

Elena will get new arms

She and Mack are going to be a strong and united couple for most of the Season.

Someone sings....my money is on Clark, Chloe, or Jeff.

There will be fallout especially between Mack and Daisy and perhaps Fitzsimmons over Robo Coulson 2.0.

Robo Coulson 2.0 finding his humanity will be a major arc for next season.

I’m prepared to see May more quiet and withdrawn, similar to Season 1 as she deals with what is going to be a complicated situation with Robo Coulson 2.o and her feelings.

Deke and Daisy especially are going to continue to grow and really come into their own.

Some of my old theories will live again

Early ending Predictions.

Robo Coulson 2.0: Gets his wishes honored, whatever he decides they are by the time the series ends. However he is high in the Heroic Sacrifice worry list. Though I would love to see him survive and be one of the first professors at the Academy that bears his name.

May: Retires, she’s died enough (seriously writers enough), and keeps Coulson’s Legacy going with the Academy.

Daisy: Becomes Director of Shield.

Mack: I have a bad feeling about Mack because I don’t see him retiring/quitting for the 300th time so soon after taking over and I feel Daisy’s arc has always been leading her towards becoming Director. I worry he falls in the final battle.

Elena: Need to see how things shake out but she’ll either stay with Daisy as part of the new generation or go lone wolf after losing Mack.

Fitzsimmons: I will Die on the hill that after spending a fair amount of Season 7 separated (don’t @ me on this one its filmed its happening) between Fitz in hiding and inevitably kidnapped, and one heck of a heart stopping fake out, that they will be reunited, help save the world, and then go off to start their happily ever after. The Baby Bomb is dropped at some point before the end. And I wouldn’t be surprised if in all the time saving Fitzsimmons weren’t quietly prepping where they would land.

Deke: Too soon to call. He has the beginnings of a hero arc ala Mace was on and we all know how that one ended. I would prefer to think he makes it and buys Nana and Bobo that castle in Scotland and they all work happily in a lab together. BUT I can also see him finally finding his place in Shield and he’s part of the new generation with Daisy as he takes over the Lab for Fitzsimmsons. Mack’s toast “to those whose journey’s are just beginning” a possible hint.

Enoch: I’m attached, he’d better live but its too soon to call. Once the Hunters are stopped he leads what is left of of his people. He is also dangerously High in the Heroic Sacrifice list, especially if it comes down to saving his bestie.

I’m sure I’ve missed one or two but its late. Hope that helps having most of them in one spot for now.

#aos spoilers #aos speculation #early theories

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missdreawrites · 6 years

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Far Cry 5, and How I Feel a Week after Beating It

@weekend-writer, here we go. Hold on to your butts.

I just recently finished Far Cry 5, and mid-way through the playthrough, someone asked if I thought it was worth the 60$ USD and I had originally said yes. Now, having completed the game, I’m rethinking that stance. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sorry I bought the game for full price, but I’m definitely a bit - sad over it. So I’m going to go through the game point by point, in a somewhat blistering, disappointed review.

Obviously, beyond the cut, there are SPOILERS ahead.

Let me start this out by saying I enjoyed seventy-five percent of this game. The graphics were amazing, the outposts were all unique, the characters were priceless (fucking Hurk Jr, man, I love him so much and dude, I ran around with a bear named Cheeseburger). The music was fantastic. I loved the theme, and the battle music, and even the scary uber-Christian hymns that played on Eden’s Gate Radio.

Now, for those of you who are looking for a bit of a rundown, the game is about a Rookie Deputy Sheriff - hereby known as Rook for the rest of this review. You play the Rook who goes to Eden’s Gate, an uber Christian cult in the middle of Hope County, Montana. You, Deputy Hudson, Deputy Pratt, and a US Marshall go to arrest the leader of this cult, Joseph Seed.

Like in Far Cry 4, you have a choice in the very beginning of the game. You can choose not to arrest Joseph - though you have to loiter for ten minutes or so as your partners and boss get increasingly angry with you, but eventually the Sheriff decides you’re right, this is not a battle we want to fight, let’s just go. Credits.

However, if you actually want to play the game, you have arrest Joseph and bring him to your chopper, wherein all hell breaks loose, and you crash because of course you do. Joseph Seed tells you that arresting him was breaking the first “seal” and anyone who has watched Supernatural within the last thirteen years knows what that means.

The rest of the events in the game are not all that important to this review, only that Joseph Seed has several siblings that you have to defeat to get to him after you escape and are set loose on the region.

There’s John Seed, a torturer who has Deputy Hudson. He’s obsessed with cleansing people of their sins. There’s Jacob Seed, a war veteran who has so many PTSD issues I can’t actually list them all, and he’s a manipulator who believes the weak should be culled from the herd. He brainwashes you a la Bioshock, only he uses a song to do it. Then there’s Faith Seed, and she’s not actually related to them. She was a junkie who came to Joseph for help, and ended up helping him create Bliss, this hallucinogenic drug that stretches the bounds of reality just a bit too much.

There. Now.

You have to liberate each region (John, Jacob, and Faith respectively) in order to unlock the final confrontation with Joseph. Each region has a bar that has little bubbles on it, once reach those bubbles, those are essentially check points of “pissing off a Seed sibling” and they send Hunters out after you.

1. Mechanic I hate number the first one: the Hunting Party

So you’ve pissed off a Seed sibling! They send a Hunting Party after you. The party arrives - even if you fast travelled to a different region, or even the other side of the map. Or like me, you’re a stealthy snipery jerkface and you kill the entire party undetected as they yell about finding me and “use the Bliss Bullets, John/Jacob/Faith wants ‘em alive!”

I kill all eight of the hunting party, and breathe a sigh of relief. There are no more red markers, Boomer says no one else is around. I venture out of cover.

Blam.

Screen goes wavery, then sparkly. Then Rook falls unconscious. Despite having killed the party, or left the party or hidden, these are scripted events, so I literally can do nothing to save myself. I have to get kidnapped by the Seed sibling, for Plot Reasons.

Annoying but manageable.

2. Mechanic I hate number the second one: The Rook

Unlike in the rest of the Far Cry series, you are not a person. By which I mean, you’re not like Jason Brody or Ajay Ghale, or even Jack. You’re still the Rook, of course but you’re not voiced, you have no personality. You can be male or female, and the only person in the entire game that mentioned my gender as female was freakin’ Hurk.

Your character makes noise - when you’re hurt or falling, you grunt and groan and cry out, but you don’t talk. You don’t emote. You are just a blank canvas. What’s worse, is they didn’t bother recording two sets of dialogue like Bethesda did in Fallout 4.

So all the cultists just call you by a gender neutral sound. “Get ‘em!”/”I saw ‘em over there!”/”I got eyes on the sinner!”

Y’all. Y’all come on.

This is especially hard to stomach when the characters are spewing just the most ridiculous nonsense at you. There’s a moment after you get kidnapped by Jacob, and Joseph is there. He goes on this - truly awful and ridiculous monologue about how he used to be a different person, he was married, a baby on the way. How happy he was. Then there was an accident. His wife died, and the doctors saved the baby but the baby was sick, probably premature, and they said he had to be strong for his baby daughter.

TW: he is not strong for his baby daughter.

The rook doesn’t say a damn thing to this horrible man who admits he killed his baby daughter instead of taking care of her. The rook just watches him, from behind bars. Yo, I was livid. I was like WHAT THE FUCK YOU MURDERER HOW DARE YOU PREACH PEACE but nope. My character was totally silent.

Y’ALL.

3. Mechanic that I hate number the third one: the Ending (collectively)

WARNING: Here be spoilers. If you don’t care about me spoiling the entire ending confrontation with Joseph, keep on reading. Otherwise, feel free to skip down to the conclusion, which I’ve helpfully put in bold.

SO THE ENDING.

After you liberate each region, gather all your Roster, finish your side quests and helping each person you find, Joseph Seed contacts you - he offers to open up his compound so you two can finally have it out. Now, I’ll take this moment to say that I put it off for a bit. I ignored Joseph so I could finish side quests, and my partner, who beat the game two days before I did told me no, go do it, you won’t want to keep playing after. Why waste that time?

I was thoroughly alarmed by that statement. So even though it was almost seven in the morning and I’d stayed up all night to play it, I drove my ass to Joseph’s compound and in a mirror of the very beginning, walked up to the church.

Immediately, I am placed in a cut scene. This has happened a few times throughout the game, Whenever John Seed implored you to say “yes” to whatever tortures he wanted bestow on you, to talking with your allies. However, the length of this cutscene dragged on, until Joseph is done preaching at you.

He says he’ll give you an offer. That despite all you’ve done, despite the fact that you’ve killed his flock and family, he’s going to offer you peace. He’s going to do the “right thing” and offer you peace. You hear something behind you - still in a cutscene - and turn around to see all your friends. The roster you helped out, minus the animals, all Blissed out of their minds (as noted by the glowing cloud around their faces) and leading tied up people into the compound. They aim their guns at Deputy Pratt, Deputy Hudson and the Sheriff, all of whom have been recaptured by the people you thought were your friends. Joseph tells you if you resist, if you don’t choose peace, then you can kiss your friends goodbye.

Then you’re given the ability to choose two options: Resist or Accept.

IF YOU CHOOSE RESIST:

He knocks over some Bliss barrels, and everything gets all kinds of fucked up, and your friends attack Pratt, Hudson and the Sheriff. After you fight off Joseph for a second or two, you’re able to revive them (not a new mechanic, you can revive anyone during the rest of the game) and all four of you start fighting Joseph. You have to fight your roster as well, but once they go down, you’re able to revive them as well - which puts them back on your side. However, Joseph will also try to revive them, which leaves them your enemy.

I guess “killing them” and reviving them is like cognitive recalibration? Either way, once all your roster-friends are revived an on your side, you turn your attention to Joseph and shoot the fuck out of him. It’s real cathartic… until you beat him and are immediately locked into another cutscene.

While Joseph monologues at you, the Sheriff (your boss, essentially) comes up behind him, declares him under arrest, and handcuffs him. Joseph proclaims that another seal has broken, and then the entire screen shakes with some kind of impact. The cutscene shows you, Hudson, Pratt, and the Sheriff a giant mushroom cloud, not too far away from where you are, across the lake.

There’s a moment of shock, and Joseph declares it the end of the world, just like he predicted. He was right, and the end is upon us, etc, etc yadda.

We all run toward a car, with Joseph in tow, and then you’re given control back just long enough to drive helter skelter away from the shockwave, as shit is getting set on fire, until you’re suddenly locked in another cutscene just in time to slam into a falling tree.

The screen goes black and red, as you come to, realizing that Pratt, Hudson and the Sheriff are dead. The car door opens and you fall out, blacking back out. When you wake up again, you’re in a bunker - the same bunker you woke up in before being set loose on the county after the prologue, and who should be with you?

Joseph. Seed.

He tells you that everyone in Hope County is dead, and it’s all your fault, why couldn’t you have just picked peace? But hey, it doesn’t matter - we’re family now and one day, we’ll walk through Eden’s Gate together.

“I am your Father,” Joseph Seed says, leaning back in his seat, and staring at you with those wide eyes. “And you are my Child.” He locks eyes with you, never blinking, as the screen fades to black.

Credits.

I was in fucking shock. According to my partner who was awake on the couch and watching me play through this, I kept clicking my mouse like I was trying to pull my guns to shoot him. Why couldn’t I just shoot him?

Now, I’m willing to admit that a lot that might have been a hallucination - the cutscenes make use of the Bliss (which is hallucinogenic) a lot - even though when you aren’t in a cutscene the drug only behaves that way in the most minorest of ways. I’ve been running through fields of Bliss for ages, and all you get is weird sparkling on the corners of your screen. Sometimes you hallucinate Faith Seed, or animals that aren’t there.

However, ultimately, whether or not it was a hallucination doesn’t matter. Because the credits roll and the game is over. Hope County is gone, your friends, your allies, they’re gone. Your only companion is the man you failed to kill, the man you failed to arrest, and you’ve lost.

You lost.

So, utterly livid, I reloaded my save just before choosing Resist, and instead chose the other option.

IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT PEACE:

Joseph lets you go. He monologues a bit more, but he lets you, Hudson and Pratt, the Sheriff, he lets everyone go. You retreat to the edge of the Compound, get into the same truck you’d get into if you chose to resist, and start driving away. The Sheriff talks to you a little and ultimately what he says isn’t important, because the radio turns on, as you drive away.

Remember how I said Jacob Seed brainwashed you.... With a song?

The screen goes red as your character starts screaming, and then the screen goes black.

Roll credits.

The game is over. The last time that song played, when you did Jacob’s Region, you killed one of your allies because he brainwashed you into doing it. The entire lead up to killing Jacob is one big brainwashing suckfest, and you do things you don’t think you’re doing until it’s over.

It’s very, very clear that you’ll kill everyone in that car with you.

You lose. Everyone in that car knows how bad Joseph Seed is, they’re your survivors, your witnesses. The people who could have helped you get more manpower to come back and get rid of Joseph with more than a song and a prayer.

But you kill them. You lose.

Both of these endings mean that the ninety hours I spent playing were useless. Nothing I did mattered. Either the world fucking ends, or you murder the people you spent the whole game trying to save. Nothing you did matter, you made no difference, and you lose.

I have nothing against games where you don’t win. I have nothing against games where the ending message is you lose. I have serious issues with being plot railroaded via cutscene into endings I don’t want. Why couldn’t I shoot Joseph? I shot Faith, and Jacob and John. Clearly due process wasn’t important THEN, so why are we arresting Joseph? He’s a dangerous man who knows how to use a dangerous drug to mind control people - but yeah sure, let’s arrest him.

CONCLUSION:

Am I disappointed I bought the game? No, not really. I’m glad I played.

However, I was left with this - bad taste in my mouth, a little. The endings were lackluster, I feel like a require closure to move on with my life - especially because I beat it a week ago, and I’m still stewing over the ending.

Like the original ending of Mass Effect 3, where I was left in shock, I hope that Ubisoft hears how disappointing those endings were and gives us a miniature DLC (to go along with the three weird ones they already have) that gives us a better option.

To the anon who asked me if it was worth the 60$ USD, I originally answered your ask saying yes, because I loved the game.

I hope you see this, and note that my answer has changed. If you’re a hardcore fan of the series, like me, sure - spend the 60. But if you’re not? If you’re a casual player who just liked the idea of the plot - give it a miss, until the next Steam Summer Sale or Xbox Gold Give Away.

This is a little disjointed, I started it while I was at work and then slept before finishing it but I am free and available for any questions via ask/message system. Anon hate about loving the endings will be added to the fire and will fuel the heating for my house. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

#far cry 5 #far cry 5 spoilers #review #thoughts #SO I HEARD YOU LIKE BLISS #far cry #joseph seed #john seed #faith seed #jacob seed #the rook #shenaniganry

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mundanesalad · 7 years

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In My Head

AO3 Link | SFW | No pairing Reworking of the end of the quest “Dangerous Minds” from Fallout 4. Namely, I hated how the quest ended in game so I made my own. Part of a series called Jury Rigging that is intended to be a bunch of short fix-it fic.

It was almost like a scene from a comic book. The Backup stood silhouetted in the doorway. She looked considerably more animated than the last time I saw her. You could say that the giveaway was a toss up between being the only living human ever to break into Fort Hagen and the blood stained vault suit just barely visible beneath the oily black trench coat.

No, it was the Backup’s face. Sheer anger and determination that seemed to get more intense with every step closer. Nothing quite like the loss of a family. I couldn’t blame her, heck, I almost feel sorry for her.

As dumb as they are trigger happy, the Gen 2’s in the room took a step back and stood their ground, save for the ratty one who accompanied her. The rouge synth produced a pistol from his jacket, clearly pilfered from one of my own as a testament of rebellion. The Backup demanded answers. I gave her the gist: yes, The Institute has her son. She didn’t believe me when I told her that I had no idea where he is. It’s clear that she’ll somehow she’ll hunt down the Institute and blast a hole into it with sheer willpower, but she’s not gonna like what she finds. I would do the same.

That’s why I can’t let her.

“In a hundred years, when I finally die,” she smirked slightly as she cocked her gun, “I only hope I go to hell so I can kill you all over again, you piece of shit.”

The remaining synths sprang to life as anything that was left of this world was shredded by blinding blue lights.

Lynn suddenly snapped back into place. The memory lounger was a vice and she was about to be squeezed to death. Everything felt heavy and she was breathing in pins and needles. Without even thinking, her limbs kicked and clawed at the glass dome of the chair. She was no longer the bounty hunter Conrad Kellogg in Fort Hagan, she was Lynn Brockway, a temporally displaced lawyer searching for her son in a wrecked Boston but finding herself in the basement of the Memory Den.

Two figures stood silhouetted against the lounger’s frosted glass dome. They belonged to local journalist Piper Wright and the Memory Den’s medical expert, Doctor Amari.

“Lynn? Lynn can you hear me?” The doctor pleaded from out of sight. Lynn could barely see anything past the screen of her—no wait—Kellogg’s life. Her voice was lumped in her throat and the most she could let out was a harsh cough. She needed air NOW . The lid cracked an inch before Lynn found herself tumbling to the floor of Amari’s office and mentally spilling out into a puddle. Piper ran over to help her up.

“Blue are you alright?” She said, a comforting voice after witnessing once again all that separated Lynn from her old life. Lynn took a deep breath and shakily stood up.

“I can’t believe…” she wheezed and gave a shaky smile, “...teleportation! He’s alive!” Everything felt warm and safe again, but a dreadful pit opened up in her heart. She still had a chance to find her son, however he was being guarded by the most mysterious and dangerous entity in the Commonwealth. Lynn can't handle it alone, heck, she could barely handle existing in that moment. She took a step toward the door but collapsed. Doctor Amari gestured to a sofa nearby.

“You aren't going to want to move around so much right now. In order to fully explore the memories within Kellogg’s hippocampus, I had to inject you with some heavy sedatives,” the doctor ordered. “Everything will feel out of place for a bit, but it shouldn't hurt very much. Mr. Valentine is waiting upstairs. You should take a rest, Lynn.”

Piper half led, half dragged the sole survivor to the couch. Lynn, body too sluggish to move but too awake to sleep, stared up at the ceiling of the office. Doctor Amari’s office was a somewhat spacious room in the basement of the Memory Den, which happens to hold the title of the cleanest place in Goodneighbor. It had all the amenities a doctor's office would presumably have, such as stimpaks, bandages, a sink, rubber gloves, and whatnot.

Out of place, however, was a pair of memory loungers in the middle of the room. While she had been in one, Diamond City Detective Nick Valentine had occupied the other during her trance, serving as a way of processing the bounty hunter’s memories for viewing.

For now, Lynn was lying on the couch, Piper sitting beside her, doodling something in a note book.

Doctor Amari reassured the two that she’d be right back and left the room.

Lynn’s mind was over capacity in its analysis and mental replaying of the last few moments of Kellogg’s life.

Kellogg and company broke into Vault 111, decided Shaun was ripe for experimentation, killed her husband and everyone else she’s ever known, but decided that she was just marginally redeemable enough to keep alive.

But Kellogg stole more than just Shaun.

He had Shaun—had her baby—for ten whole years doing God knows what with him.

Lynn missed Shaun’s first word, his first steps, his first day of school. Learning what subjects he loves and teaching him to ride a bike and catching bugs and being a family. Shaun won't even remember her. She and her son are simply strangers with matching genes.

Kellogg stole everything from her.

Lynn actively tried to slow down but she was simply too anxious to process it all. She spent a long time staring into the ceiling fan before Piper said anything.

“So the bastard was in Diamond City the whole time and I couldn't sniff him out? I'm sorry I couldn't catch Shaun earlier,” she blamed herself half heartedly. Lynn snapped out of her fan-blade-induced trance. Piper was scribbling in her steno pad, crossing off clues and leads, taking a note of Kellogg’s residence and a possible story there. But the whole time, she was sniffling.

While Piper and Amari weren't witnessing it firsthand, they were still able to see what was going on in Kellogg’s head from the monitor in the waiting room. They’d seen everything. Both of them were right there with her.

“Imagine my own headline: Local Snoop Too Busy Digging Through Mayor’s Garbage to Notice a Kidnapping! ” There was a slight crack in her throat. She couldn’t imagine losing her sister, Nat. Nat was all the family Piper had left in the Commonwealth, just as how Shaun was the only family Lynn had left from her time. She felt herself tear up, but the reporter smothered it as best she could.

Lynn reached out and squeezed Piper’s hand.

“You did nothing wrong, Piper,” she said, “what matters is that my son still out there and that I will do everything I can to save him.”

“That’s a noble way of thinking, Blue. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you find Shaun.”

“I would be grateful for you to be there with me. Also, we should probably check on Nick before he rusts to death.”

Nick Valentine had his own steno pad he was writing in. Making connections, taking notes of possible locations the Institute would be, secretly doodling in the margins. Professional detective work. He had been alone in the waiting room, save for the overstuffed sofa he’s been lying on while Piper comforted the sole survivor downstairs in the doctor’s office. He heard some footsteps coming up from creaky wooden stairs.

“Well, I know you and Piper shop at the same office supply store,” Lynn smirked. The detective sat up and grinned.

“Hey, she’s awake! How was the journey to the center of the jackass? Heard from the doc that the Institute’s been using teleportation to cover their tracks.”

“It was…painful. I hope I never have to see Nate…like that ever again,” Lynn stopped, “you didn't see Kellogg’s memories, too? I would have figured so…” she trailed off.

“No, I was acting less as a server to your client and more of the physical components of the computer. I was out the whole time.” He sighed. “Shame, too. Figured seeing the inside of the Institute might surface some old memories on where to find it.”

“Jog the cogs, you mean!” Piper quipped. This shook a chuckle from Doctor Amari, who had just entered the waiting room. She looked Lynn up and down but seemed to be focusing on Nick.

“Take it easy, you too Mr. Valentine. While it's most likely that certain neurons associated with memory will refire oddly after this procedure,” she paused, “to be honest, I’m not sure exactly what will happen since I’ve never had a memory exploration quite like this.”

“I’ll make sure to take a note of anything that seems off, doctor. Thanks again,” replied Lynn.

“It's fine, in fact, it's amazing that the exploration was possible, using a synth brain to process cybernetic memories for viewing by organic beings. This could be groundbreaking for the Memory Den and my work,” Doctor Amari glanced at her watch and her expression changed from enthralled to a professional neutral.

“Unfortunately, right now I have to leave to fill some prescriptions and prepare for my next procedure. Take care.” The doctor promptly left the room, leaving Piper, Lynn, and Nick on the sofa. The three stood in silence for a few moments before the journalist decided it was a good time for a snack.

“Hey Blue, want a soda? Usually makes me feel better.”

“Sure, Piper,” said Lynn. She never really liked Nuka-Cola before the bombs fell, but there’s something endearing about 200-year-old flat soda. Piper stood to the side to rummage through her bag, presumably to find a bottle opener. Lynn looked back at Nick. She decided it was best to get down to business as soon as possible.

“What kind of leads do we have now? I figured that the Institute must be somewhere underneath the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, considering the name’s the-”

“You. The vault dweller,” a voice dark and all too real interrupted her. A pit as deep as the ocean opened up in Lynn’s stomach. No. Not this again. This can't be happening.

“I hope you got what you were looking for inside my head.” She looked down and saw only Nick, but she may as well have been staring down Kellogg once again. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Nick’s mouth moved but his voice wasn't the one coming out.

“I was right. I should have killed you when you were on ice.”

Suddenly, Lynn grabbed the bastard by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him into the wall. She didn't even realize what she had done until she found herself screaming.

“TELL ME WHERE THE FUCK THE INSTITUTE IS, YOU SACK OF SHIT! ”

“Lynn! What are you doing?!” Piper sprang between the sole survivor and the synth, trying to pry the woman off of him. She freed Nick, who took a few steps back from his assailant. Lynn was wide eyed and breathless, unable to form sentences.

“Kellogg did something—he’s in Nick! He was just talking! He’s still—he was talking! Through Nick!” Lynn couldn't articulate what she meant. She simply pointed at the detective.

“What did you say to me?” She paused after every word.

“I said that there will probably be a trail to the Institute at the CIT ruins, believe me,” repeated Nick. Lynn was still shaken. Why was Kellogg here?

“But what about the after effects! Of neurons refiring! There could be still traces of Kellogg in his brain!”

Piper cautiously approached Lynn and squeezed her hand.

“I…I didn't hear Kellogg speak. I heard Nick agree with your idea and then you tackled him,” admitted Piper.

“Lynn, when the doc was talking about this neuron business,” started Nick, concerned but defensive, “she was talking it affecting about you and not me, because I don't have any neurons!”

#fallout 4 #fan fic #nick valentine #piper wright #fallout fanfiction #fallout

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