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slocumjoe · 1 year

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Biggest complaints about each companion

Warning, reference to in-game dark subject matter.

This is subjective and mostly me wishing for a more thoughtful story, with themes beyond robot racism.

Cait: TDLR; Her backstory is too much for how it's handled

It feels like Cait got thrown every bad thing she could have. With trauma in characters, less is more, and in Cait's case, it doesn't help that her writing is more interested in her trauma than who she is as a person. Like Cait only matters as a character because of what she went through and what that demonstrates about the wasteland, rather being a person first.

I would like to point out, her parents waited until she was 18 to sell her. Because, apparently, age of consent matters to sex slavers. It demonstrates a lack of commitment to the dark topic, which usually means you should tone it down. Leave one aspect, and keep the other. Abusive parents or slavery, not both.

Since Cait is our only basegame raider companion, you could use her to humanize raiders by showing how the cycle of trauma creates them. "But Gage—" is a little bitch.

Codsworth: TDLR; Focuses too much on his pre-war relationship to the player

What was Codsworth doing those 200 years? Did he just hang out in Sanctuary? Did no one ever come to Sanctuary in the meantime? Codsworth has no relation to the plot or world beyond Sole.

I think Codsworth should have had a quest about how he went out and tried to help where he could, but now doesn't know where those people are, and wants to know what became of them. Something to give Codsworth a connection to the wasteland. Or maybe Codsworth shouldn't have been the Sole Surivor's robot at all, just one that wandered into Sanctuary and met them. Then you could have a point that the first human the Sole saw after freezing (Kellogg) was cruel, but the first 'soulless' machine was kind, which makes a point about the main plot and the idea that being human doesn't make you 'human.'

Curie: TDLR; Should have been related directly to the main plot

Curie is a robot that is put inside a synth—which is, biologically, completely human in all but a chip in their head and the circumstances of their creation—and is totally fine. She learns to breathe, gets thoughts and feelings in a way a Ms. Nanny wouldn't, and handles sensations without bricking.

Send this bitch to the Institute and BOS, are you kidding me? Curie is walking proof of synths being more than machines. She has wants, imagination, potentially even dreams and nightmares. This is never brought up by anyone.

Also, Curie is a robot, and then inhuman, but still a person, and she uses science and her compassion to help the wasteland, where those who would destroy or enslave her use it to further their own egos.

Danse: TDLR; MAKE HIM SAY SORRY TO NICK AND HANCOCK

Danse's real character arc starts at his final affinity post BB, and then it doesn't go anywhere. He never learns to accept himself, or synths, or ghouls. Danse is a character that shows the terrible function of 4 Affinity Talks, because he needs, like, 10 of the things.

Danse needed his likes/dislikes updated after BB, interactions with Nick and Hancock, and a proper character arc where he unlearns his worst traits and the BOS's bullshit.

Deacon: TDLR; Dead wife? Really?

Can Deacon not just be a goofball man who used to be a bigot, and now works hard to help the people he hurt? Because Barbara and her death implies that Deacon didn't change because it was the right thing to do, but because bigotry personally affected him.

If there must be a death, make it that his community tore itself apart trying to find synths among them. Y'know, like...a witch hunt? In Salem, maybe? Since we didn't do anything interesting with Salem, one of the most interesting places in the USA? Deacon sees this and sees that it doesn't matter if synths are human or not, hatred will inevitably hurt anyone, because it doesn't actually care who you are. Hatred doesn't need a reason, only a target. The Synth plot should have been an allegory for McCarthyism instead of slavery, change my mind.

Hancock: TDLR; He's a historical LARPER that doesn't do anything in terms of a narrative.

No, Todd. You can't make John Hancock a ghoul and call it an OC.

Hancock could have had a story about identity crisis, idolatry, and trying to escape your past. We also get hints at a complex political issue in Goodneighbor about the push-and-pull between the desire for total freedom/anarchy, but the need for some kind of law and order. Hancock has a casual friendliness, and acts like 'one of the people,' but he is the mayor. There's tension there. Can your leader be your friend? Can your friend call all the shots while still being on equal footing with you? Can you lead a group of people who look up to you as a hero, and still retain modesty and not subconsciously separate yourself?

I like Hancock, he's fun, he has a lot of interesting narrative stuff. But he doesn't do anything with it. It could have been a nice parallel with Elder Maxson, too.

MacCready: TDLR; Small inconsistencies + dude, go get your son???

Mac doesn't ever go back to Duncan, and Duncan never comes to the Commonwealth. I understand that the former is for game play reasons, but the latter feels like the writers forgot that Duncan exists.

MacCready has some issues with the likes/dislikes. I think they're mistakes instead of intended, but still. For example, in the Vault 81 quest. MacCready likes letting Austin die. He dislikes it if you give the cure.

There's also Sheffield, the soda addict in Diamond City. MacCready claims to have never seen someone with a sugar addiction, but Zip, from Little Lamplight, had an addiction.

Mac is mostly fine, aside from these inconsistencies. The Dead Wife thing sucks, but I allow it because it's pretty fundamental to his story, rather then being tacked on for sad points.

Nick: TDLR; Eddie Winter is a stupid bad guy with a stupid quest and Jenny Lands is a stupid tragic backstory

Eddie Winter being the first ghoul ever is mind-bogglingly bad. You're telling me that they made ghouls before the bombs? And even if they did, Winter couldn't be the first. How the fuck would anyone know that radiation makes you immortal if you do it right, otherwise?! So, that's a contradiction within an already contrived premise. And not only that, but he just. Leaves a bunch of holotapes with a number on the back, that make a code to the basement of his favorite sandwich shop, which just so happens to be on the same street Jenny gets fridged?

So, Eddie Winter (or one of his goons) was eating one day, looked out, saw the fiance of the detective hunting him and recognized her (????), shot her, and then presumably returned to his fucking sandwich??????

And then 2 centuries later, a clone of that detective somehow finds the holotapes, untouched, unmoved, still functioning and retaining the painted-on numbers. The numbers didn't...fade? Wipe off?

You can keep the concept of Nick wanted to finish something Pre-war Nick didn't get to, but this...this isn't it.

Like, Skinny Malone was right there. Maybe just Darla shows up when you free Nick, and then later Nick has to contend with Malone and the Triggermen in some grand conspiracy with Mayor MacDonough, Hancock, and Piper.

Preston: TDLR; The radiant quest mechanic fucked him over and his voice actor needed some retakes

The moment you get Radio Freedom, Preston should have stopped giving quests. Easy fix there. It would have saved him almost a decade of shitty memes.

The real problem with Preston is that his VA beefed it bad. I can quote some of his lines with perfect inflection because the VA just did it so poorly. X6-88's VA had to play a monotonous, little-emotion character, and he still nailed it and gave X6 a lot of personality and distinction. Preston sounds like a modded-in character. And Jon Gentry is a pretty good actor! He has a great live-action presence in his demo reels on IMDB. I think he just struggled to put his performance into his voice rather than his presence/body language, and they didn't let/have him do a retake.

Piper: TDLR; So much potential, so much failure. Piper is a shitty reporter, and that could have been a great opportunity to have commentary on the ethics of journalism.

Journalism is supposed to be a duty to the people. It has responsibilities and ethics that are very easily misunderstood or forgotten for the sake of the next article. A good journalist is not always accurate. An accurate journalist is not always kind. A kind journalist is not always good.

Piper is not a good journalist, because her writing is not informative, it isn't news or useful info. She writes about MacDonough being a synth—she's basically writing callout posts on her blog.

Piper is not an accurate journalist, because she never has evidence for this claim. She says MacDonough is a synth, that the Institute took the Survivor's baby even if the Survivor says no.

Piper is not a kind journalist, because she fearmongers and makes things worse for synths. She complains that no one believes or trusts her word, but the second thing you ever see in Diamond City is a man trying to kill his brother for fear he's been replaced.

This is all fine, if addressed and explored. But it isn't. Piper seems to be chasing the high of exposing authority, and both times, she's right. We, the player, know she's right because we find out later she is. Imagine if we didn't. Imagine that reveal scene never comes. Every issue of Publick Occurances is trying to start a witchhunt, and Piper doesn't notice that it's working.

So, let's make her arc about worrying about her sister.

X6-88: TDLR; BRUH HE HAS NOTHING

No backstory, no relationships with other characters, no quest, no character arc.

TODD. You had the chance to humanize the Institute, or at least show what it's like being an Institute synth that isn't free. And you, instead, put all that time into fucking KELLOGG. You think I give a fuck about KELLOGG? I don't even give a fuck about SHAUN.

🌠Honorable mentions🌠

Gage: Hypocrite that thinks becoming the problem is fixing the problem, also he has both eyes. What do you need an eyepatch for.

Strong: Bethesda Super Mutants suck shit. Y'know Erikson fron Far Harbor? Would rather have him.

Longfellow: Dead Wife Man. Again, would have preferred Erikson.

Dogmeat and Ada: Perfect, no notes.

Best companions are:

Dogmeat, for being doggy

Ada, for being robot lady

Preston, for being perfect aside from two technical, Doylist issues.

#fallout #fallout 4 #fo4 #paladin danse #piper wright #hancock #preston garvey #deacon #x6-88 #nick valentine #robert joseph maccready #old longfellow #i am SALTY ABOUT PIPER HOO BOY #like her articles genuinely suck #i will accept criticism on all of these EXCEPT PIPER #GIRL I LOVE YOU BUT GOD #GET A FUCKING BETA READER #IF I SUBMITTED THAT TO MY ENGLISH TEACHER I WOULD HAVE BEEN STRUNG UP IN CLASS AS A WARNING

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illusivejam · 2 months

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I’ve been playing some Fallout again and wanted to actually draw my protagonists. Here’s my Sole Survivor, Natasha! Out of all the protags, she’s the most (successfully) diplomatic. She takes her role as General of the Minutemen quite seriously, especially in the late game. Her main focus after the main events of the game would be to build up settlements and secure safe routes throughout the Commonwealth again. (I don’t normally like base building games but something about building up settlements in Fallout 4 is satisfying.)

#my ocs #fallout #fallout 4 #sole survivor #fo4 #minutemen #oc art #Natasha Carlisle #vitiligo #please feel free to share some tips/criticism on how I rendered her skin. I want to make sure I’m actually drawing vitiligo properly #my art vibes

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ziracona · 2 years

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How am I supposed to endure traveling with Preston? I can’t even do something as simple as say “Wait here” to the man bc he’ll so worried & sincere say, “I’d rather be watching your back, but okay,” and I keel over; literally any interaction and I’m:

#fallout 4 #Preston Garvey #it’s Preston hours and I love him 😭😭😭 I am taking critical pain damage from how sweet literally everything he says is #also I remembered Quincy was bad but Jesus. Preston. I. I don’t even know what to say except I’m so sorry #r’s fo4 survival run

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atombonniebaby · 10 months

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If you need some cheering up and want to laugh your asses off!.. This Critical Role one-shot should do it 🤣🤣🤣

I'm only halfway through, but thought I'd share a couple of moments! (If the timestamps didn't link with the videos, I've made notes!)

1:09:00 -The reason why I now headcanon that MacCready stays away from chems is because they transform him from Sexy-Rat man to Paranoid Trash-Panda (also why he hates you hoarding scrap! 🤣)

youtube

1:19:10 - The screenshot below is all you need to know 🤣🤣🤣

youtube

#Critical Role #Crash Pandas #matthew mercer #marisha ray #sam riegel #travis willingham #laura bailey #Blair herter #fallout 4 #fallout maccready #maccready #fo4 maccready #rj maccready #robert joseph maccready #robert maccready #MacCready Voice Actor #Youtube

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ghoulshouting · 2 years

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vague far-off fallout 5 news but whats the point if they won’t let me be a ghoul

#ghoul shouting #i decided when i embarked on this long journey that i wouldnt play the next game if i cant be a ghoul #but i DEFINITELY wont play unless bethesda unfucks their workplace #and lbr. the writing will be in the hands of the same 3 people that will always use heavy handed clumsy racial metaphors #and skimp on companion content #they literally could expand their circle and hire more people for more interesting content but instead they'll jack off the BoS #and drown us in vault tech boy merch. straying further and further away from self awareness of what they're parodying #sorry for the rant in the notes. normally keep my fallout criticism to myself in the spirit of the blog but fo4 is... not good tbh #DONT GET ME STARTED ON choose your character's gender but writing the game's plot SPECIFICALLY for the male sosu #and every guy has a dead wife backstory HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #pls give me back the role play of rpgs

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old-stoneface · 10 months

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started playing fallout 4 so im thinking about new vegas of course. my fave in fallout 4 is OBVIOUSLY nick valentine because he IS perfect in every way

#sam.txt #i also restarted fnv but cal encouraged me to play fo4 instead #and it was only 20 bucks. so. good deal #anyway i have criticisms but overall im enjoying fo4 a lot! i like the building and creating and repairing shit #loooots of fun

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nthflower · 3 hours

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Confessions time Hancock isn't even in my top five fave fallout ghouls list. In fact he is probably not even in my top five fo4 ghouls list. Still I like him a lot tho.

#like he is fun but i wish other ghouls in fo4 get some spotlight #like daisy/bobbi/kent/zao/oswald/vault tec rep/edward/arlen glass etc.#content for them is critically low #and i have love fallout side characters a little bit a lot disease #anyways byee #fallout #fallout 4 #geym

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jaythelay · 7 months

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I'm just taking a guess based on few moments of gameplay but Starfield is just Fallout 76, which is just Fallout 4, again, but in space right? Like, literally exactly the same games just technically, on a technical level, better?

Still dealing with NPCs floating, reacting inhumanely, randomly essential NPCs, the dialogue choices hardly matter, or are written to cringe internet keyboard warrior degrees, if there's factions, none of them are "bad" but none of them are "good" either?

The gunplay still feels worse than modded new vegas, except enemies react now so...that's...better... but still walk aimlessly sometimes. Again, are slow to react.

Basically has Bethesda yet decided to make an all around good game or just a game that has the potential to be better than it is which is bad, usually with mods only scratching the surface of quality?

Because boy howdy. Boy howdy, do it be looking exactly like Fallout 3/4 again.

#Fallout 4 made me quit the industry #Here and there maybe a triple a game I genuinely regretted #but otherwise FO4 is why I stopped pre-ordering #stopped buying games with ridiculous DLC #stopped playing most online shooters #Like seriously the game was so bad anytime I even remotely get started on it I genuinely Cannot stop shit talking it #it's not even a rage #it's just an understanding the game is fundamentally flawed at quite literally every avenue #literally every possible avenue of criticism it falls so hard #The one place I can say I like #HAS to be followed by the fact the game IS NOT A POST NUCLEAR WAR GAME #it is a POST BOMING GAME where every government gave up and pollution is truly the closest to nuclear you can get realistically #just BARELY destroyed towns and hosues #embarrassing #see it happened already I genuinely wasn't trying #it's just such a bad game I quit the industry as a whole #only interested in old games and indie #go play crystal project #get a good classic RPG in your system that's actually designed #starfield #see I just got to that tag #FO4 is bad #there's nothing to change that #once you recognize it's flaws and develop some standards FO4 is a piece of rotten corporate shit with no ambition or passion #Starfield?#my god who the fuck was dumb enough #Of course it's FO4 which is just a worse FO3 again #of course they have no talent and anyone with standards left the company #it's Bethesda #the company who earned nothing for anything yet had it all until it became too much smegma to ingest

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xanthera · 1 year

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Apparently people still give Fallout 4 flak for how underdeveloped the Commonwealth is in 2287 compared to the parts of the USA we see in earlier installments in the franchise, and like. I guess that’s valid, it is a pretty stark difference, but I think people forget that the Institute was knowingly and violently sabotaging every attempt to improve the Commonwealth basically from its inception

They sent armed synths to gather resources from the surface and would use deadly force if those resources had already been claimed by settlers. An Institute plant undermined talks between the largest settlements to unite the Commonwealth in a manner similar to the RNC. Scientists had people kidnapped from the surface for their FEV research, and then released the resulting Super Mutants into the Commonwealth when they were done with them, with no regard for who they might hurt

Most damning of all, Kellogg and a small army of synths massacred the entire settlement of University Point because one person found pre-war research data in an old computer system, and the Institute wanted it. They didn’t even know what the data was, they just wanted it because it seemed like it might have been about fusion energy, and they immediately resorted to slaughtering innocent people in order to get it instead of just, you know, asking to look at it. The real kicker is that the research data in question was never about fusion energy, but an energy weapon. It would have been useless to them, and even then, they never even found it. All those people died for nothing, on the Institute’s orders

That’s what the Institute has been doing in the Commonwealth for almost two centuries by the time Fallout 4 takes place. Ruthlessly culling resources, hoarding pre-war research and tech for themselves, and treating the people still living on the surface as subhuman and disposable. That’s why the Commonwealth is so woefully behind in technology and society. It’s by design, because the Institute benefits from the Commonwealth being unable to fight back against their machinations

Anyway, I guess I’m back to defending Fo4. It’s definitely got its flaws, but it does rub me the wrong way when I see bad-faith criticism or “hot takes” that completely ignore the actual canon of the game

#fallout #fallout 4 #fo4

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lesvegas · 1 month

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absolutely bonkers reactions from the fallout fandom. The only criticisms I'm seeing are from fnv fans who are rightfully calling the show out on its poor world-building. But that apparently means we're 'toxic and pretentious'. really cant win with these people smh 🤦

It's incredibly baffling. I mean I always knew there'd be an uncritical crowd that would overlook any and all flaws because they only really care about the same things Bethesda does (cool power armour! cool guns! cool explosions!) but the fact that it seems to be... almost EVERYONE? Is so fucking weird. I went to nma to see what their consensus is because despite how awful the site is they're also one of the few groups that actually criticize Bethesda Fallout but even THEY liked it. Even after watching the end of season one. They didn't really seem to care about the 'twist' or problems when I expected them of all people to tear the show a new one.

I knew most of the critics would be FNV fans, I just didn't expect us to be the *only* critics. It almost made me think hey, maybe it really *isn't* that bad and it's critically acclaimed for a reason, but... no, watching it just kinda hurts. A friend of mine who genuinely loves fo4 also hated it. In fact all of my friends who have seen it hate it, despite the wider reaction. It's an odd feeling.

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oldworldwidgets · 10 months

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look, in all my time on fo4 tumblr and on the fo4 subreddit where hatred runs rampant, ive still only seen two valid criticisms of the railroad as a faction. ever.

(im putting aside the whole entire slavery allegory for the purposes of this post)

these two criticisms are:

if you (yes, you. the player) fundamentally disagree with the notion that synths are sentient people, the organization makes no sense and is useless. i cant change your bedrock beliefs on what constitutes a person, so this criticism stands

the mind wipes might border on unethical. the idea is good and well-intentioned, but it kinda sucks in practice. synths can choose not to have the procedure, but the railroad's catastrophizing about what will happen if they dont feels coercive sometimes. i could probably be convinced otherwise, but i think this is a pretty good point

thats it. there are no more. im absolutely open to (and would love, actually) yall trying to change my mind but just know that if your criticisms are:

they're short-sighted; the organization will eventually dissolve because there will be no more synths left to help

they have no plan nor reason to help synths post-institute; the moment the institute explodes, so does the railroad

they're too narrow-minded; they should be helping people too, not just synths

by destroying the institute, they're stopping the production of synths; this nullifies their efforts in saving synths and is even, dare i say, hypocritical

their password being railroad is far too simple and the freedom trail is too easy to follow; theyre just asking for another switchboard

[insert member of the railroad, usually desdemona] is mean; the organization is full of assholes

then ur efforts will be wasted on me. all of these criticisms are bad <3

#and i would be very happy to tell you why #i really love the railroad so much and it hurts my fragile little heart that so many people shit all over them bc they just dont understand #those clickbaity youtube 'essays' about how the railroad sucks can pound sand #i'd love to talk about this with literally anyone. give me ur railroad criticisms #i will gobble them up and return with a full essay and a works cited page #anyway #fallout 4 #deacon #the railroad #fallout 4 railroad #deacon joseph railroad #synths #oldworld.txt

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rad-roche · 9 months

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do you have any mod recommendations? other than romanceable nick lol

exposing my mod list is a real 'please don't tell anyone how i live' moment because it, top to bottom, is all just pretty little outfits for gloria, furniture, or very small changes to nick that i like. gameplay? story additions? those sound interesting, i wonder what those are like. my toxic video game trait, consistent across absolutely everything, is i can play a 5fps mess if it means i get to snap pretty pictures

now of those categories...

SAD WOMAN DRESSUP GAME FEATURING AN RPG OR WHATEVER:

Caliente's Beautiful Bodies: you know it you love it, and there's a nevernude option should you desire. i always forget what i have installed, so i made sure to get the nude one so i could nod appreciatively when a modded outfit failed to load. it's my present to me. got rained on? had an argument? never fear. glussy is here.

Apocalypse Attire

Commonwealth Cuts

Dave's Poses

Looksmenu

Mirrored Vanilla Scars

Eyes of Beauty

Photo Mode (even if you have absolutely no interest in the cc stuff, this thing is a godsend if you ever want to take screenshots)

Cigarette In Mouth

Handmaiden - the outfit in that picture. comes in other colours, too!

Concealed Armors

HOUSE FLIPPER: IS IT STILL MIDMOD IF IT'S THE FUTURE

Creative Family mods. you can't install these like you would the rest, so pay close attention to the instructions, but the quality on these is unmatched. creative clutter, do it yourshelf, modular kitchen, they're all really, really good if you like decorating player homes.

Building Budget Extender

Dino's Decorations

Global Stash

Just Some Rugs

MadKea (this thing adds 500+ items so if your computer has a hard time with fo4, give this one a skip unless you don't mind waiting an age for menus to load)

PlaceEverywhere

Reversed Workshop Highlight (gets rid of that annoying green glow! godsend!)

Workshop Plus (completely reworks workshop; lets you clone items, save layouts to layers, float around buildable spaces, undo/redo. it's hard to overemphasise the usefulness of this if you plan to build)

SO THERE'S THIS SENIOR CITIZEN

Companion Accuracy Boost

Companions Go Home

Alternative Synth Eyes

Nick Valentine Robot Voice (it makes nick sound as if he's talking through a speaker. it's subtle, but i really dig it)

Valentine's Revolver

Valentine Jaw Sync

Settler and Companion Dialogue Overhaul (makes npcs seem more 'aware' and much less likely to make repetitive comments)

Delay Nick's Quest (only allows Long Time Coming to trigger after you complete Gilded Grasshopper; a lot of his location-based dialogue remains open instead of him defaulting to brooding about the tapes and that long, hard quest)

I'll respect your wishes and not mentioned critically acclaimed Fallout 4 mod Romancable Nick Valentine, which can be found here. I will, instead, mention this adorable one where you can marry him, which I assume is keeping in the spirit of you specifically asking me not to mention them. Now go forth and play your wildly overambitious otome game

#fallout #fallout 4 #fo4 #gloria roche #nick valentine #please don't tell anyone how i live

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