#outside of the whole 'this is definitely the only war where no female civilians got raped' thing people are insisting on

[jokerfan99]

My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villains (Updated) by DarkChild316

In a different time and a different world, I did a list of “My 10 Favorite Anime Villains”. I am older now, and hopefully much wiser and now thanks to the global pandemic and my new subscriptions to Hulu and Funimation I’ve had the opportunity to go back and revisit so many classic anime that I feel like I should re-do it. Plus I’ve gone back and looked at my previous list and shook my head thinking to myself: “My God man, what in the f**k were you thinking with some of these choices!” So, I’ve gone back and redone the list, now this list is strictly for the men only. If you want to see a list dedicated to my favorite female villains, check out my list of “My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villainesses.” But for this list, here is my updated list of My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villains:

#10. Shishiho Makoto (Rurouni Kenshin): Growing up as a kid, Ruroni Kenshin was one of the first anime I had ever watched, and this guy was someone who I hated with a passion. Looking back at it years later, I realize now what an amazing villain and foil to Kenshin that Makoto was. Unlike a lot of villains on this list, Makoto wasn’t just evil for the sake of being evil, Makoto’s evil came from the worst type of trauma: betrayal! In this case the betrayal came from Makoto’s own government, where Makoto survived not only multiple gunshots, but being doused in oil and burned alive, leaving him in complete and utter agony. What puts Shishio on my list is what he manages to do after surviving death. He compiles an army of the best fighters Japan has to offer and plots to overthrow the entire Meiji Government. While in complete agony. Who else can claim that? Did I also mention he’s topping the list of the best fighters in the show? His swordsmanship is second only to Kenshin himself as he proves in their absolutely epic fight.

#9. Hisoka Morrow (Hunter x Hunter): Hunter x Hunter is a show with several great villains that truly stand out, and while Meruem was memorable, pardon me for believing that Hisoka was the standout villain from that show. A devious killer and master Nen user, Hisoka is driven by little more than his desire to find and kill strong opponents. Be they young children or master criminals, he’ll pursue them to the ends of the Earth with a bloodlust on par with that of a wild predator. Likewise, he doesn’t care what happens to himself or others in this pursuit. Mass civilian casualties, the loss of his own villainous allies or even the loss of his own limbs barely phases him, so long as he gets to fight with someone that tests his limits. As a result, he more often than not embodies chaos incarnate, wreaking havoc in his pursuit of battle and leaving a mountain of corpses behind him. Needless to say, this puts him at odds with the series’ protagonists at regular intervals. Not only do Gon and his friends fit the bill for what he seeks, but they often take on enemies that prove to be exactly what Hisoka is looking for. And yet, this also serves to make him all the more interesting. Where other villains might strike out at the protagonists and heroes immediately, Hisoka schemes, allies himself with and double-crosses people regularly, always finding the best angle to work in order to reach his goals. He may not be a world-ending anime villain on the level of a Meruem with seismic ambitions, but he’s undeniably the most interesting and brilliant villain in Hunter x Hunter to see at work.

#8. Izaya Orihara (Durarara!!): If you think of a list of top anime villains and this guy isn’t one of the first people who comes to mind, please raise your hands so I can have a few words with you in private with no cameras or eyewitnesses. The crazy thing about Izaya is that he doesn’t even realize he’s evil, and that’s what makes him great. He loves humanity; from the depths of his bones he loves us all. This is why he makes it onto my list; he does progressively more cruel acts against humans, putting people in situations that generally lead to their deaths. He is also a master of parkour and highly skilled with a switchblade in his hand (as evident in the above picture), which he generally only uses in dire situations or fights against Shizuo. In short, I absoulutely love this guy. I thoroughly enjoyed the way he manages to manipulate an entire populous, and that’s why he’s more than earned a spot on my list.

#7. Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure): You might have thought it was someone else, but it was me, Dio! All meme-worthy jokes aside, Dio Brando is unquestionably one of the most iconic anime villains of all time and, thanks to his series’ late-blooming popularity outside of Japan thanks largely to the 2012 anime adaptation, one that still feels modern in our minds. Dio is a tenacious bastard that takes advantage of the generosity of the Joestar family to further his own power, being intolerably dickish to Jonathan by constantly tearing him down, trying to make him look bad in front of his dad, spreading rumors to sully his reputation, and sabotaging his relationships. This escalates into killing his dog (his f***ikg dog of all things!), poisoning and later stabbing his adoptive father (I mean WTF!), and becoming a freakin vampire. Even after decapitation, Dio gets his revenge and sets in motion many of the events of the series, making a formal return in Stardust Crusaders as the main villain once again. With raw ambition taken to the extreme, iconic lines, poses, and outfits, incredible abilities from Aztec mask-induced vampirism and the time-stopping power of The World, Dio’s menacing presence towers over his series and over anime as a whole, which makes him MORE than deserving of a spot on my list.

#6. Light Yagami (Death Note): Yes, he’s a VILLAIN, get over yourselves Light Yagami fanboys! Anyway, there are a number of different adjectives and superlatives that could be used to described the lead character of Death Note: Diabolical, calculating, and determined to make the world in his own image all describe Light who was easily the most clever man in  Death Note, as evidenced by the layers upon layers that composed his elaborate plans.  Light started out as a good kid, doing well in school and heading to a bright career in police work like his father. But when he gets possession of the death note, he begins a remarkable descent into a disturbing mastermind who becomes judge, jury, and executioner for the entire world. But what truly makes Light's character stand out remains complicated throughout the story. His ultimate goal is to make the world a happier, safer place; a noble but perhaps misguided goal. His idealism and nobility still shine through when he doesn’t have the Death Note. When he temporarily relinquishes ownership of the death note to throw L off his trail, Light loses all memory of the death note and he reverts to his normal personality. His sense of morality returns and he shows more compassion for those around him. He even refuses to use Misa Amane to get information out of her when L asks him to. These qualities help to create a complex character who ends up being a detestable villain, yet you still kind of root for him to come out of this story as a winner. Light’s progression through the series is marked by his sheer brilliance. He's got a calculated and strategic mind that would make the great philosopher Machiavelli jealous, and the power of the death note adds a callousness that makes him free to use people in whatever way necessary to accomplish his goals. It’s highly entertaining to see his intricate plans play out. But Light’s messiah-like ego is just as big as his brain, and that arrogance ultimately leads to his tragic downfall.

#5. The Major (Hellsing): An evil Nazi Scientist, I know everyone is just rolling their eyes right now thinking I’m reaching for the low-hanging fruit for this one, but just hear me out here. While he may seem like an obvious pick for a list like this, The Major’s goals, however, are somehow far more unhinged than what may first appear. Despite being an impassioned orator and uncompromising strategist willing to sacrifice countless soldiers, the Major himself had no especial loyalty or passion for the cause of Millennium. His sole obsession is to plunge the world into an unending conflict to the point of endangering not only the lives of others but also his own. The Major’s leadership of Millennium, his decades espousing the genocidal ideology of fascists, and subsequent war against the Hellsing organization, the Vatican, and the entire world serve only as a pretext to satiate his insatiable bloodlust. The Major is one of anime’s most insidious villains, a charismatic, nihilistic sociopath driven purely by his sadomasochistic death wish.

#4. Shou Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist): Now, you may be recalling that in my previous version of this list, I had Envy listed as my choice as my favorite villain from this show. Well after careful reconsideration, I’ve had to reevaluate my decision and give that spot to this creep, because while Envy’s actions were despicable to a point, they PALE in comparison to this guy! He only really appears in one episode if I remember correctly, yet in that one single episode, he made more of an impact then most villains make in a lifetime, which really says a lot about this guy’s character. What was it that made him so memorable you ask? Well, it could have something to do with the fact that this man transmutaed his own dog and daughter to create a talking chimera, which hadn’t been done before, and for what other reason…all in the name of recognition in the world of alchemy! That mere fact alone made this guy the most hated man in all of anime, the fact that he sacrificed his own family for the sake of fame, with absolutely no hint of remorse, made this guy the definition of an absolute living piece of shit and the only thing worse is how the episode ended, but I won’t spoil that one for you if you haven’t seen it.

#3. Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) Up next is a man competing with the likes of Medusa Gorgon for the title of “Anime’s Worst Parent”, Gendo Ikari, please step up to the front of the congregation. Now Gendo is a man who’s list of atrocities throughout Evangelion is far too many to name, but I’m going to try my best to list them here: You have being actively complicit in the premature instigation of a biblical apocalypse, resulting in a near extinction-level event that caused the death of nearly two-thirds of the human population. Emotionally neglecting his own son Shinji estranging himself from him for over twelve years, only to offer him up as a sacrificial pawn in his bid to artificially bootstrap humanity’s ascent into evolutionary godhood so that he could be reunited with his dead wife. Cloning said wife’s DNA into a harem of emotionally dependent albino ingenues who share a dogged infatuation for their creator. And that’s not even mentioning the horrific emotional abuse and mental manipulation he inflicts on Dr. Ritsuko Akagi and her mother Naoko. All-in-all Gendo is proof positive that love not only has the capacity to overcome any obstacle, but sometimes it can truly make monsters out of us all.

#2. Griffith (Berserk): Griffith did nothing wrong; at least, not by his own drives and ambitions. A peasant who grew to become the leader of his own mercenary band, Griffith was a self-driven man who pursued his desires with unparalleled efficiency. No matter the situation or obstacle, he found a way to overcome them, whether that meant facing down an army of thousands or assassinating a country’s leaders. All the while, he amassed a legion of friends and followers who would follow him to hell and back, caring for him as much or more than he cared for them. As a result, they were dragged down with him when his ambitions saw him imprisoned, tortured and maimed. They cared little though, risking life and limb to save him and help him salvage a life with what he had left. That wasn’t enough for Griffith though. When given the option to become a demon and continue the pursuit of his dreams, he whole-heartedly accepted it; even though it came at the cost of sacrificing the lives of each and every one of his friends and allies. But that wasn’t the worst of it, to further spite the early desertion of Guts, Griffith proceeds to rape Casca, Guts’ love interest, in front of him as Guts is held down by demons. So yes, Griffith did nothing wrong by himself. By everyone else though, he did them the worst of injustices, and continues to do so with each breath he takes, all of which makes him a compelling and infuriating villain.

#1. Johan Liebert (Monster): I’ve covered a wide variety of monsters (pun fully intended) on this list, but THIS monster (again, pun FULLY intended) truly takes the cake when it comes to anime villains. A serial killer who would fit in well in any blockbuster film, Monster told the story of a man who had truly become monstrous; a charismatic, intelligent sociopath with no other goal than to kill everyone else in the world. Johan didn't just kill people, he made other people into monsters just like him. This skill of his corruption is first displayed in his youth, when he used stories to convince the other boys in his orphanage to kill all the staff, and each other. Johan is often compared to Light Yagami of Death Note, but the two couldn’t be any more different. Light's fatal (and genius) flaw is his own ego, which leads him to put his own life above all else, even his goal of changing the world. But Johan has never been afraid of death. Quite the opposite, he welcomes and embraces it, being more than willing to put his own life at risk, and one of his signature traits is how he challenges people to shoot him. Another of Jonah’s signature traits is his skills as a masterful manipulator. Where Light and other on this list had to resort to supernatural means to get what they wanted, Johan just used his own wits and knowledge of human nature. He's easily the most frightening villain on this list because he’s the truest to life villain on this list and he exposes the base human nature of his victims and of human society. Monster's remarkable story was almost entirely due to Johan alone, and it’s why he’s #1 on my list.

So that's my updated list, what did you guys think about it? Love it, hated it? Go on and tell me what you think and let me know who your favorite anime villains are. See you soon!!!

Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/darkchild316

#shishiho makoto #Rurouni Kenshin #hisoka morrow #hunter x hunter #izaya orihara #durarara #Dio Brando #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #Light Yagami #Death Note #the major #hellsing #shou tucker #Fullmetal Alchemist #gendo ikari #neon genesis evangelion #griffith #berserk #johan liebert #monster

[concussed-to-pieces]

The Mettle Of A Man; Part Five

Fandom: Fallout (4)

Pairing: Eventual Paladin Danse/Female Sole Survivor

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: Enjoy!

Part One: ArcJet

Part Two: The Prydwen

Part Three: Orders

Part Four: Finding Brandis

It was supposed to be simple. Clear out Weston Water Treatment. Start a new settlement at Oberland Station. Backhand wrinkled her nose. Partially in irritation, and partially to ward off the foul smell of super mutant.

  “If I'd known the place was infested I wouldn't have agreed to this shit.” She grumbled to the paladin in power armor beside her. “Rob could have been a little more generous with his count, I feel.”

  Danse chuckled, “Don't try to act tough, Knight Vega. You're still here, right? It's only a couple of super mutants.”

  “A couple, he says.”

  A bullet whizzed over her head, interrupting the easy back and forth between the two of them. Danse gritted his teeth and readied his laser rifle. “For the Brotherhood!”

  They easily picked off five mutants and two hounds, and Backhand pumped her fist in victory when a sixth mutant fell to Righteous Authority . However, then she heard something that sent her into a panic. Her whole upper body jutted heedlessly out from behind cover, stealth mods deactivated from her motion while she searched frantically for the source of the beeping. “Wait, Paladin wait! ” She yelled, grabbing hold of his arm as he thundered by and barely missing getting her fingers crushed in his elbow joint. His momentum dragged her along with him and she hurriedly dug her boots into the dirt. “There's a fucking-!”

  Danse’s huge gauntlet clamped onto one of the many straps on her combat armor and without so much as a look out , he hurled her up over the road and into the deep pond beside the treatment plant. The super mutant suicider screamed in triumph, “ Die, metal man! ”

  Backhand landed in the pond with an undignified splash, brown water pouring into her nose and mouth as she sank like a rock to the bottom. The following explosion sent shockwaves through the water and Backhand struggled to hold her breath.

  Danse, oh God Danse, please be alright!

  She finally broke the surface, eyes stinging from the acrid water. “Paladin Danse!” She coughed, hauling herself back up the banking. Smoking chunks of super mutant were scattered everywhere , green flesh burned brown and black. The suit of power armor was toppled over on its front. “ Danse! ” Backhand almost fell in her haste to get to the paladin, skidding to her knees beside the power armor.

  Her Geiger counter started to click loudly.

  “Shit, Paladin, c'mon! You've dealt with worse than this, you got cooked by a fucking rocket! Don't do this to me!” She pleaded, fighting with the manual release on the back of the suit. The fusion core was shattered, otherwise she could have just half-twisted the handle and popped him out easy. Backhand was stuck doing this the hard way. “Fucking answer me Paladin, please! ”

  “That's not...soldier-appropriate language, Knight.” A choked cough came from the half-crushed helmet. “Can you get the back open? I can't really...it's very heavy in this thing.” He rose onto his knees with one hand propping him up, leaving Backhand more than a little impressed. “A Brotherhood soldier's conditioning requirements are somewhat rigorous, Knight. Now please. The back.” Despite his reassurances he sounded strained.

  Backhand tore the plate metal over her knuckles on the rivets around the manual release wheel in her haste to get it undone, breathing a sigh of relief when she finally swung the back plate up out of the way. Danse pulled his head out of his helmet, got to his feet, and promptly collapsed.

  Backhand swore again, rolling him over. It seemed like his armor had taken the brunt of the impact but he got rattled around inside it like an old world pinball. She'd griped about the lack of padding in their undersuits the very first time she’d seen them, ‘ stupid military branches, always cutting corners. ’

  “Paladin, you still with me?” Backhand Vega, shittiest knight the Brotherhood has to offer. “Why the fuck are all your jumpsuits dark orange and brown , I can't tell whether you're bleeding or not!” She yelled in frustration, mostly to herself. At least that suicider had been the last of the mutants to deal with. “Alright, okay. You're out. Oberland it is.” She sighed when he didn't reply, slinging Righteous Authority across her chest and heaving Danse onto her back. Thank God for all that conditioning work so she'd been able to move her own armor frame back in the day. She may be in shape but Danse was by no means a small man.

  Getting over the damn hill to Oberland left Backhand almost spent. Half-carrying, half-dragging him up the station stairs at the end was torment, her calves screaming bloody murder. She dropped him on the bed and left her supply satchel on the ground, rummaging through it for her Stims. Some Rad-X probably wouldn't hurt either, it had been a mini-nuke that exploded next to him.

  “Knight Vega...” Danse mumbled blearily a few minutes after she inserted the Stim needle into one of the ports in his jumpsuit, the paladin obviously coming back around.

  Backhand couldn’t stop the way she snapped at him. Now that the terror for her companion had faded somewhat, she was left feeling exhausted and irritated. “What the hell were you thinking? You could have been obliterated by that asshole!”

  “Where are we?” Danse muttered instead, trying to sit up.

  “Oberland. Lay the hell back down, stupid idiots don’t get to sit up.” She pushed his shoulder and Danse’s back hit the mattress with a wheeze of rusty springs. “Don’t move.” She growled, using one of her shoelaces to hang the bag of Rad-X from the rafters and then hitching the end of the tubing to the needle still in his arm. Danse grunted, the dazed look on his face making Backhand extremely nervous. “Paladin, stay conscious.” She waved her fingers in front of his eyes and Danse jerked to attention. “Stay with me.”

  “I am, Knight Vega.” He retorted while his eyes drifted shut. “Right here.”

  “Ah ah, no napping.” She tapped his cheek and his eyes rolled open again. “Stay with me, Danse.” Backhand repeated, a little softer this time.

  “I am , Knight Vega.” Danse murmured. “Endured worse than this, remember?”

  “Doesn't mean I'm not going to worry.”

  Danse closed his eyes just enough to squint at her. “About me? You’re the one with no power armor. I’m supposed to be managing you , Vega.”

  …

  “Yeah, frickin’ bang-up job there ked.” Backhand retorted. “Coulda’ lost a hand in your elbow joint when you whipped past me like a bat outta’ hell.”

  Danse noted with a faint flash of amusement that apparently her accent thickened when she was wound up. “My hearing is not in peak condition. Specifically, telling where the sound is coming from can be an issue in my helmet. Proctor Ingram can only tweak it so much.”

  “That would have been good to know beforehand, Paladin.” Backhand said icily, her motions sharp and angry as she shed her combat armor breastplate. Her gauntlets followed suit, discarded in a pile on the floor. She was soaked to the skin, Danse noticed hazily.

  His head was pounding again, vision slowly becoming more and more unfocused. “Tell me about what it was like, Knight. Before the…before the war.” Danse slurred, trying his hardest to change the subject and stay awake.

  Backhand bit her lip, pulling the bedroll up a little higher until it was underneath Danse’s chin. He wasn’t sure whether she intended to simply ignore his question.

  “It was green.” She said softly, putting his wondering to rest. “There was always someone in your business. People were on top of each other most of the time. I mean, I was in the military so cramped quarters were normal for me, but for civilians…it was pretty hellish. In the mornings once we’d had breakfast, I would take Shaun outside to the front lawn and he would roll around on his little blanket. The neighbors were walking their dogs or mowing the lawn or something, we would all make small talk about the weather.” Backhand stopped talking and sighed heavily, tapping at the bag of Rad-X to keep it flowing.

  “What is it, Knight?” Danse hated the cold sweat that always broke out when he took Rad-X, but right now it was a necessary evil.

  “I think a lot of folks were a little intimidated by me.” She theorized. “I mean I was a young veteran, and pretty quickly became a single mother. Unheard of. For a while after I moved in I still had the eyepatch from my discharge incident, then a pair of super dark sunglasses, which definitely didn’t defang my appearance.” Her smile was melancholy and she brought her fingers up to her eye, tapping the area beneath it.

  The silence stretched on. Danse knew he needed to be patient. It’s not as if he could go anywhere, and it was fascinating to hear about pre-war from someone who had actually been there.

  “I told the neighborhood kids that I was a pirate and showed them all how to make newspaper boats and hats so they could be pirates too.” Backhand smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I modified one of my old MLCE packs so I could carry Shaun around the cul-de-sac with me when I jogged. Didn’t have the money for one of those baby carriers or even for a stroller after the divorce, so the pack had to do. He would put his little head down on my chest and sleep. Wasn’t bothered by all the motion or anything, just like his mommy.”

  Her pain was still clearly raw, even after however much time had passed. Danse didn’t know what to do, so he wiggled a heavy arm free of the sleeping bag and rested his hand on her own. She squeezed it back wordlessly, her jaw working.

  When she spoke again, she sounded more steady. “I can’t say that it was bad . The environment was safe and quiet. Everyone in Sanctuary Hills looked out for one another. Even if it was more motivated by curiosity and nosiness than an actual desire to help.” Backhand mused dryly. “The milkman couldn’t leave an extra bottle on your doorstep without six other people knowing. So exactly like the military.”

  “Sounds similar to the Prydwen.” Danse remarked, sick to his stomach a second after he said it. How many people must know about Maxson and I? He realized, swallowing hard to fight the sudden rush of nausea. He hadn’t thought about it at all, more than content with the illusion of privacy one usually maintained in the Brotherhood. The most obvious evidence of their dalliances was the busted mouth Danse always seemed to end up with, and those instances happened far too often for everyone to write it off as Danse just being clumsy or careless when he shaved.

  I bumped it. He grimaced as he recalled his weak explanation back on the Prydwen, the way Backhand had narrowed her eyes at him.

  Besides, he knew that he’d worn his excuses thin at this point. Trying to explain away the teeth marks Arthur left on his upper arm that one time was more than enough of a chore. He had looked like he’d been savaged by a feral, so at least he could understand the concern to an extent.

  “Hey, you alright? All the color just dropped out of your face.” Backhand noticed, her brows drawn in worry.

  Danse nodded, fixing his attention on the guttering lantern beside the bed instead of the wrinkles on her forehead. “Tell me more?” He asked eventually.

  “I miss the convenience of food. Even with the shortages, there used to be a grocery store on practically every corner.” She sounded wistful. “Shaun hadn’t really started solid foods yet, he was only just beginning to leave the twenty-four-seven nursing program. Not a minute too soon, the little bugger would suck me dry.”

  “You breastfed your child? Isn’t that-” Danse stopped himself, feeling uncomfortable. Normally breastfeeding was considered incredibly dangerous, for the baby and the parent. But before, when the radiation wasn’t so prevalent…things must have been different. “It’s none of my business, I suppose.”

  “No no, I get it. I know that nowadays trying to raise a child is tough enough without the added dangers of the irradiated environment. It was simpler back then. Could just unbutton your shirt and go to town, instead of having to unbelt all your armor and find a safe spot so that Junior can get lunch in.” Backhand grinned.

  Danse flushed a little at her frank speech, sternly telling himself not to dwell on the idea of her with an infant on her knee like some housewife from the pre-war mags. He had no recollection of his own parents, or siblings if he had them. Familial musing was not familiar territory, but it never failed to leave him with a sad ache in his throat. The same ache that assaulted him when he thought of Cutler-

  Backhand hissed in pain and Danse snapped out of his slide into melancholy, watching with horror while she peeled off her other glove. “Shit, I didn’t even feel that.” She grimaced, spreading her fingers. The sheet metal on her gloves was ripped through in some areas, and it had apparently taken a few healthy chunks out of her knuckles and the backs of her hands. Blood dribbled over her palm and Danse felt… odd .

  “Knight Vega, what happened?” Danse asked in confusion.

  “I was in such a hellfire hurry to get you out of your gear and the fusion core in your suit was busted. I uh...I don’t really know.” Backhand admitted. “I went panic mode and muscled the manual release as fast as I could, basically.”

  “The manual…” Danse trailed off as she wiped some dried blood away with the hem of her undershirt. “You need to bind that. Your knuckles-”

  “Nah, I’ll be fine.” She flapped a bloodied hand at him. “I’ve had worse.”

  “It’s irrelevant whether you’ve had worse, the fact of the matter is that right now, you’re the one who needs to protect us.” Danse shot back, a little annoyed with her carelessness. “Who knows what could be lurking out there? Everything in the neighborhood must have heard the suicider explosion.”

  “Ah, okay. Sorry, I’ll…you think a Stim would put this back together? Or should I save those for later?” She asked hesitantly.

  “Did you take any Stims from the Prydwen?”

  “No, I didn't want to take any resources from you guys.” Backhand shuffled through her pack, carefully counting out everything that she had. “I only have three Stims left. Wasn't expecting this detour.”

  Danse cursed under his breath, pushing to sit up by propping his back against the wall. The Stim that she had given him was doing its job, of course, but it would be several hours before he was fit for duty again. Anything could happen in that time. “Come here.” He ordered, disliking the sideways look she gave him. “Let me see your hands.”

  “H-Hey, I'll probably be fine. It's no biggie.” She protested, putting her left hand into his own all the same and then wincing. Danse, his brain jerkily reminding him that he was probably being a little too rough, nearly dropped her hand when he tried to casually loosen his grip. Alright, maybe he did spend more time than necessary in his armor. The truth of the matter is that Danse felt like a raw nerve without the comforting weight of plate metal on his body, exposed and too… soft .

  “I'll wrap this.” He decided aloud after several moments of careful manipulation to make sure her fingers weren't broken. Danse flipped open the small pouch by his hip, tugging out a tiny roll of bandaging and a nonstick gauze to dress her knuckles. “What? A Brotherhood soldier is always prepared.” He huffed when he noticed Backhand staring at him.

  “I gotta' get one of those.” She said, gesturing at the pouch. “Is that included in the suit? Or do they come separate from the requisitions officer?”

  “I can put in a supply order for you, if you'd really like one. It has...look, there's loops here. You could hitch it to your combat armor.” Danse loosened the bag and showed her the plethora of MOLLE straps on the back, chuckling a little when she made a clumsy attempt to snatch it out of his hands. “Mm, nice try. I've been around Haylen and Rhys. You've got nothing on either of them when it comes to pilfering my supplies, Vega.”

  “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She grinned ruefully. “I really ought to be nice to you. After all, you saved me from pretty certain death.”

  “I did?” Danse thought back momentarily and then remembered gauntlet slamming shut on the strap, whichever strap, doesn’t matter, shoulder-ribs, just be enough to hold her weight --He felt his face go hot recalling the unwarranted contact between them. “It was a…reaction. Sometimes I think I move too quickly for my mind to keep up.”

  “Lucky for me, I guess! Maybe the Sarge's bandanna is rubbing off on you.” Backhand got to her feet, stretching her arms over her head. She had peeled her Vault suit down and tied the sleeves around her hips again, the fabric pulled tight from her motions.

  Danse forced his eyes elsewhere, the sweat on his forehead having nothing to do with the Rad-X. What the hell is the matter with you? He scolded himself. Since when do you ogle women like this?

  “Do you think we should stay here tonight, and try to get to your armor tomorrow?” Backhand asked.

  “We have to. I’m not leaving it there indefinitely.” Danse cringed as he thought of the state his armor would be in. “I would like to go after it tonight, but I am…not in peak condition.” God , that stung to say. Whether he liked it or not, it was the truth.

  “ Hell no, not tonight. I’d rather let you sleep off the Stim and Rad-X, have you in fighting shape bright and early tomorrow morning.” Backhand gave him a look that was actually fond and the ache mounted up in his throat once more. “I’ll take first watch.”

  “Put your armor on!” Danse barked as she moved to the door, his voice harsher than he had intended. “You--I-I mean, you need to be prepared, Knight.” He tried to play it off, tried to relax his posture a little. He had nearly stood, shaky fingers crushing the rotted windowsill to try and support his weight.

  She waved her bandaged hand at him, as if to say hush , but still buckled her chest plating back on. Danse knew her moments of insubordination should have been worrisome. Had he gotten too complacent, too used to the less stringent requirements of fieldwork?

  He did let Rhys and Haylen slide. He just couldn’t stand the two of them dancing around each other anymore, it was maddening. Rhys talked a great game, he always had, but Danse would have to be blind not to notice the knight’s care for their scribe. It wasn't technically against regs, of course, but Danse knew if anything he ought to put his foot down. As their senior ranking officer, if the relationship went south between them he would be dragged into it. It was hard to justify it though, when he saw the two of them all curled up with one another.

  Better that they enjoy themselves now. Life could be so incredibly short.

  …

  “Hey, what’s your deal with the muties?” Backhand asked curiously. He had gotten a boatload of pre-war nonsense out of her, she figured she had earned at least one question. “You lose one of your own to them or something?”

  Danse made eye contact and Backhand’s breath caught in her throat. He looked positively worn, fragile , like all the life had gone out of his body. With an expression like that , she expected a great (if sad) story. All she got was a soft “ Yes ,” spoken in a voice thick with emotion.

  When it became apparent that that was the end of it, Backhand cleared her throat and readjusted the dingy pipe pistol in her hands. She proceeded to methodically count her bullets, trying not to make him feel like she was waiting for the rest. The experience left her shaken. She had thought Danse to be the typical soldier, but it was obvious now that there was much more to him than that. He clearly cared deeply for the wellbeing and safety of each member of his team, possibly too much for him to escape unscathed. He was one of those , she realized, practically a kindred spirit to her dearly departed senior officer Sergeant Cathan. Courageous, firm, the shelter in the storm. A true embodiment of everything a soldier should strive to be.

  “ I could not feasibly promise anything…it was not within my power to promise. ”

  She noticed Danse pull the bedroll up around his shoulders as if he was cold. There was a sharp wind that blew through the old station on top of the hill, but Backhand, New Englander to the end, barely felt it. She leaned on the worn bannister of the stairs, her eyes squinted against the darkness as the stars brightened overhead.

  There was more rustling from behind her and she assumed that Danse was doing his best to make himself comfortable on the old mattress, his frame a bit… large for the task. Backhand snuck a peek and was relieved to see him curled up in her bedroll, his back to the wall and eyes closed.

  She hoped that Paladin Brandis made it to the Prydwen safe and sound (and that her armor was still in one piece). She may have hoped a little harder that Brandis was already giving Maxson a run for his money. The idea of Maxson being thrown off his game made her snicker quietly to herself.

  Her good humor faded all too quickly when she recalled that there was nothing keeping them out here and away from the Prydwen once they finished cleaning up Weston. If something shifty was going on between Danse and Maxson, it wouldn’t be long before they were back in the thick of it. She cast another glance at the large man after she heard him mumble something, watching him shift around in the sleeping bag. There was an odd vulnerability to him when he slept, which she remembered all too well from their time in the police station.

  The wan sunlight hadn’t woken him as she scribbled her note, but he stirred when she placed the paper down on the floor beside his head. His bedroll was bunched uncomfortably at his elbows and she took a selfish moment to kiss his forehead and then tug the fabric up around his shoulders. It couldn’t hurt, she reasoned with herself. He had hummed in his sleep and snuggled down into the warm embrace of the bedroll. It made it incredibly difficult to leave, even with the two Mister Handy units cheerily patrolling the courtyard. If something happened…

  Well, it didn’t really bear thinking about. Backhand had the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time she and Danse would meet.

  …

  Backhand woke him for his watch shift at almost exactly two hundred hours. She looked fatigued and Danse ignored the protest of bruises on his body in favor of more quickly freeing up the mattress. “Got it warmed up for you.” He yawned, chuckling when she poked him in the ribs.

  “I bet you did, you big furnace.” She teased, her eyelids already drooping. “Nothing to report, sir. All’s been quiet.”

  “Carry on, Knight.” Danse saluted out of habit, scooping her combat armor up off the floor and beginning to adjust it to fit his own body. Once he was in some semblance of protective equipment, he snuffed the lantern on the bedside table and took his place at the window. He borrowed Righteous Authority from her, seeing as his rifle was back with his power armor. Probably lying on the ground, covered in super mutant gore. Danse frowned unhappily.

  His night vision had always been impeccable, with or without his helmet. Danse scanned the landscape for threats, glad that they at least had the high ground. If anything tried to attack, he would know well before they arrived.

  The Commonwealth was almost peaceful at night. Once all the raiders had bedded down with one another and the ferals had retreated to their holes, a tenuous calm reigned that was usually only broken by clans of ambitious super mutants or radscorpions.

  Danse rested his weight gingerly on the wall, afraid that it may not be able to support him in its decrepit state. Thankfully it held fast and he relaxed after a moment. His pulse was still quick enough for him to be slightly anxious. It was a normal leftover from using a Stim, but he disliked the feeling; epinephrine and adrenal-sour in his mouth while his heart slammed a tattoo on his ribs.

  Danse fought the desire to shake himself, certain that Backhand wouldn’t appreciate being woken up by the percussion of poor-fitting combat armor. Though she had mentioned that her son could sleep through anything, “ just like his mommy .” He imagined being on the front lines, getting your meager rest wherever you could and going for weeks without seeing a real bed would probably do that to a person. Lord knew he had a hard time readjusting to the quiet safety of the Prydwen after clocking lengthy stints of fieldwork or skirmishes with the Enclave.

  He had dreamed of Cutler again. Danse exhaled slowly through his nose, fighting the tremble of his hands. Mercifully the dream had faded well before Backhand woke him. He wasn’t sure how he would have reacted to being shaken awake while still in the grasp of his memories. He shook his head, propping the barrel of Righteous Authority up on the windowsill. He couldn’t go on like this, haunted by the echoes of a man who had ceased to be. True, they had a bond. A bond which Danse had naively believed was unbreakable. But when Cutler had gone missing…

  Danse was no stranger to horrifying experiences. Centaurs, super mutants and ferals plagued his nightmares, nightmares which inevitably led to an enormous super mutant hive in the Capital Wasteland...

Part Six

#fallout 4 #fallout four #paladin danse #paladin danse x sole survivor #paladin danse/sole survivor #paladin danse x f!sole #fallout #bethesda #video games #BOS #brotherhood of steel #canon-typical violence

[gascon-en-exil]

I'm genuinely curious about your "Black Eagles most to least favourite" list.

Here you are.

#1: Hubert

Could there be any other? I remember back when there was a promo introducing the house retainers (well, Lorenz for the Deer) and everyone was saying that Hubert looked so obviously evil that there had to be some deeper explanation, that someone who took design cues from a two-dimensional villain like Fates’s Iago couldn’t possibly be Edelgard’s retainer. Then the game came out, and we all realized that Hubert was exactly as advertised and then some: a cold and calculating murderer and war criminal with his fingerprints all over almost every terrible thing that happens over the course of the story, as comfortable with chloroform and a razor as dark magic and down to perform unspeakable experiments on innocent civilians to turn them into war machines and then backstab his co-conspirators because he will suffer no rivals for his title of the Most Evil Man in Fòdlan. And yep, he looks like Dracula and Severus Snape had a one-night stand and their mpreg love child went to an anime convention...but when Ferdinand looks at Hubert he sees Mr. Darcy and the Phantom of the Opera and Edward Cullen/Christian Grey, and soon enough that snake in Hubert’s breeches will be singing quite the aria indeed. You do you, Ferdinand.

Ok, I’ve already rambled at length on Hubert’s bisexuality and the interesting things it reveals about both him and his two primary love interests, but I do also have to admire the sheer audacity both of Hubert as an incel/Nice Guy-flavored romantic false lead for Edelgard who never had a serious chance because of the self-insert fantasy and of the decision to follow that up with a trope-laden queer romance that perfectly counterbalances Hubert’s attraction to Edelgard and puts Ferdinand firmly in the place he was destined to occupy by choosing to side with the Empire. It’s nearly as outrageous as just how casually evil Hubert gets to be, as well as the immense potential for dark humor that lies with that. You have to bend over backwards to say that Hubert isn’t unapologetically, irredeemably evil, and if you try there will be significantly more fans just waiting to tell you that you’re wrong - myself included. He’s the Manfroy to Edelgard’s Arvis but so much than that, and I look forward to the point in the CF postgame where he effectively takes over the Empire in true evil chancellor fashion and unleashes the full extent of his horrors upon Fòdlan. He somehow got even better in the DLC too despite being absent from CS and getting no new supports, because the Abyssians in CF just can’t stop talking about his nefarious antics down there. I just can’t get enough of how good this guy is at being bad, and I love that FE gave us exactly what was advertised here.

#2: Ferdinand

Now here’s a case of the opposite, where what’s on the packaging didn’t prepare me for what was to come. If I remarked on Ferdinand at all during pre-release it was only to think that he might be part of a Christmas knight duo with Sylvain since the game looked like it wouldn’t have one of those. Early on there wasn’t much else to be said about Ferdinand; he was like Claude in that his popularity ran off a meme (except just the one rather than several), and in appearance and personality he was basically Lorenz with less ridiculous hair. But then came his supports, and his post-timeskip look, and suddenly Ferdinand blossomed into the subtext-laden fem with very bizarre taste in men - see above - that he could have only dreamed of being if he’d stuck to such well-trod ground as the Christmas knight archetype. We learn of his love for opera, his complicated relationship with his father, his worship of the hot mess diva Manuela and how he learned swordplay specifically to imitate her roles on the stage, and - yes - how some backhanded compliments and expensive gifts of tea turn him into a blushing Regency heroine. It all casts his unusually rote romances with women in a performative light (as opposed to Lorenz who is similarly performative but seems genuinely interested in the marriage market), to say nothing of his one-sided rivalry with Edelgard that brushes against jealousy over Hubert’s devotion to her more often than against romantic attraction to her, and that toys around with gendered behavior in a manner complementary to Edelgard’s own bucking of the gender status quo.

And while not to the same extent as Felix, I do appreciate that Ferdinand has two distinct arcs depending on the route - and unlike some who feel that one or the other detracts from his character as a whole I personally find that they complement each other well. In SS and if recruited to AM and VW he makes the hard choice to oppose his homeland, spending the timeskip waging a solitary battle against the Empire with his private militia and then joining back up with Byleth’s army at Garreg Mach because he knows Edelgard is in the wrong even as it pains him to depose the Adrestian emperor and leave his own status uncertain...not to mention fight Hubert, which merits a curious boss conversation as well as some extra lines in SS (plus the infamous Huge Hole™ remark that I will never stop referencing because it is hilarious) that, while not elevating Ferdibert anywhere near the level of Dimidue in terms of cross-route canon endorsement, nonetheless are suggestive of something deeper between them that exists even if they find themselves on opposite sides of a war. In CF by contrast Ferdinand gives into his craving for the title and holdings that Edelgard has just stripped from his father and embraces nationalism and his long-held ideal of what the office of the prime minister should to do as a means of justifying the Empire’s conquests. Of course in the process he also succumbs to Hubert’s, er, charms(?) and becomes the charismatic bureaucrat who is presumably saddled with the task of putting a positive spin on the Empire’s dystopian atrocities while Edelgard and Hubert do all the actual work...and Hubert does all the actual actual work, which includes a lot of murder and kidnapping and all manner of other things that he doesn’t share with his pretty lover and about which Ferdinand quickly learns not to ask. Two Jewels of the Empire, indeed.

#3-4: Edelgard and Dorothea

I go back and forth on these so I’m not going to bother putting them in a definitive order, particularly because I like them for very different reasons that are difficult to compare. For Edelgard, it would be most accurate to say that I enjoy her potential much more than her execution; she gets some meaty material to work with as a lord and as the driving antagonist of the whole game outside of CF, and while I still prefer Micaiah for female lords there’s something darkly satisfying about her need for control and domination and her utter refusal to compromise or remain stagnant...except where Byleth is concerned, and Edeleth drags her down so badly that it would be painful if I cared more about that type of strong female character. Had the game axed the self-insert obsession (even if that meant axing her bisexuality along with it) and focused on her experiences during the Insurrection as the source of her worldview and motivations I’d be inclined to like the final product far more, because that’s a hell of a lot more in line with what she actually does and conveniently also maps to the life of a real world ruler with whom I’m relatively familiar and whom history regards in appropriately ambivalent terms.

Dorothea on the other hand is someone I can relate to on a more personal level, mostly as a sex worker. She’s similar to Primrose from Octopath Traveler, both of them prostitutes and playing coy with the implications of the RPG dancer class archetype, although Primrose hits a few more of my buttons for being former nobility and being motivated by revenge. Then again, I fully understand Dorothea’s anxieties about growing old without a man to take care of her, even if she loses me (and Yuri picks up from where she leaves off) when she dips into lesbianism as an alternative option. She’s got her ups and downs for me - I love that she brings up incest kink with Caspar as opposed to this series’s usual outright incest, while I love less her strange Ferdinand supports that are suspended oddly between friendship and romance and...something else undefinable - and I don’t have much to say on her life as an opera diva except that it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that she’s been turning tricks on the side and even got a sugar daddy to pay her way into the academy. Theatre and sex work have always gone hand-in-hand like that.

#5-7: Linhardt, Caspar, and Petra

This is why I couldn’t make up a list like this for the Lions or Deer, because most of their students would be in big clumps like this. I have no strong opinions on any of these characters; they each have their moments, but not enough to elevate them to where I actively like them or drop them down into real dislike. I suppose you could say I’m disappointed by how Caspar and Linhardt are visual allusions to Ike/Soren who do absolutely nothing else with that similarity except eloping in their paired ending...which is preceded by virtually nothing in the way of real chemistry. If I enjoy them for anything in particular it’s Linhardt’s wit and Caspar’s occasional bouts of emotional vulnerability, like his mini-arc in AM where he has to deal with his feelings surrounding Randolph’s death and then later gets an apology from Dimitri for it.

Petra is awkward all around as the game dances around her delicate political situation, and I also happen to agree with the VA who (if I recall) thought the character should have some sort of accent but wasn’t allowed to do one. (If anyone is wondering, based on her last name and Brigid being an island nation I headcanon it as a Celtic-derived culture, but as with my personal reading of Dedue and Duscur I know that doesn’t play well to the fandom at large).  All in all Petra feels like a more self-aware rendition of the exotic swordswoman archetype begun by Ayra in Jugdral, but there’s clearly still some work to be done on that front.

#8: Bernadetta

Ugh. With apologies to @capriciouscorvid for explaining how even unintentional disability representation can be taken as a positive, I just don’t see how Bernadetta’s character could possibly be considered a good thing when she’s so grating in almost all of her supports and most of her story and exploration presence outside of CF. All the screaming and high-pitched pronouncements of impending death get very old very quickly, and the part where she’s meant to be romantically appealing in her neediness and isolation is as lost on me as it would have been had it stemmed instead from a massive rack. Her supposedly sympathetic backstory doesn’t help much either, as it leaves me mostly with the thought that her father is an idiot because his methods obviously did not make her suitable to be a good wife. I also don’t care for how she’s one of several characters used to soften Jeritza (and that the way she does so is I think rather insulting to people with social anxiety, to liken it to a compulsion to commit murder), or even worse that people point to her Hubert support to try and say that he’s not such a bad guy and they’d be total besties just like Ferdinand and Dorothea (another pairing that doesn’t exactly scream BFFs). I mean, really....

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Black Eagles

[mobius-prime]

277. Sonic Universe #8

Mobius: 30 Years Later (Part 4 of 4): The Freedom Fighters of the Future

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

So things are bad. Tikhaos is wrecking the castle and is already looking to move on to the rest of Portal, and no one really knows how they'll stop her. Sonic doesn't even know what he's looking at, and is baffled when Lara-Su mentions the monster's name, leading to the mention of a couple more noodle incidents.

I will say it seems a little trite to rehash the whole Perfect Chaos thing once again in a new setting, akin to how Star Wars just rehashed the Death Star twice after the original movie, but then again, the whole point of this arc is to show history repeating itself in both negative and positive ways. I actually do like the concept of the Future Freedom Fighters, the children of the original Freedom Fighters, carrying on the fight against renewed threats to the world - in m opinion it's one of the only things this arc actually gets right. The team wonders how Tikhaos was released and how she got all this Chaos energy in her in the first place, but decide they have to focus on the most present threat first.

This is one of the only actual character moments King Shadow gets at all in this arc, and honestly, I don't buy it. I suppose this is meant to be sort of a "bad future" Shadow, in which he never truly got the chance to fully comprehend Maria's ultimate wish and ended up horribly misinterpreting it, trying to bring peace to the world by conquering it and enforcing that "peace" through his brutal regime. But it falls incredibly flat without any kind of attempt at explaining how he ended up like this. Literally all we know about the past of this particular timeline is that Sonic disappeared shortly after Eggman was finally defeated for good - details that were covered in Penders' version of the future, such as Knuckles going green once more and "remaking the world as he saw fit" or whatever aren't confirmed to have happened or not happened, making everything about what led up to this moment entirely uncertain. Thus, there's no explanation whatsoever about what could have happened to Shadow that led to him becoming so brutal and tyrannical - literally, the backstory provided in SU#5 just makes it seem like he showed up one day and started taking over for no reason. Given his relatively tame character progression in the comics compared to in the games (where he undergoes significantly more trauma and is actually directly exposed to the temptation to violently take over the world), I find him developing in this direction extremely hard to believe. Like, I know I've gone on about how he's my favorite and all, but even if he wasn't, him becoming evil like this just makes no logical sense.

Anyway, Sonic orders Lara-Su to organize the rest of her band of new Freedom Fighters to stall Tikhaos while he rescues his family from the panic room, and orders Argyle to contact the Echidna Security Team to evacuate the city. Lara-Su is nervous about being totally in charge, but takes to it like a natural, ordering the others to distract and halt Tikhaos' advance so people have a chance to get away. Meanwhile, Sonic finds the half-destroyed panic room… with Sally still sitting pretty inside it, a vapid smile on her face. Seriously, normally Ian is good at writing his female characters, so I don't know what the hell happened here with Sally. I get she's close to fifty years old at this point and she was never a frontline combatant in the first place, but the Sally I know wouldn't exactly be content to just sit around while the castle literally fell apart around her, she'd be getting everyone on their feet and looking for an escape route, goddammit.

Once again I have to point out that Silver's motivations don't seem to make sense here. In every other appearance he makes in the comic, he's fully convinced that a traitor within the ranks of the Freedom Fighters is what caused his future to come to ruin, and yet here it's pretty clearly a result of Tikhaos' rage, which was obviously not caused by any Freedom Fighter at all. As Sonic carries Sally and encourages his kids to follow him to safety outside of the castle, Argyle reports that the evacuation of the city is going smoothly, with no reported casualties so far. The new Freedom Fighters are doing a decent job of holding back Tikhaos, but they're nowhere near strong enough to actually take her down, and are due to wear down eventually. Most importantly, the Dark Presence has actually fully renounced Shadow, and are helping to evacuate the civilians and have also freed Tails and Mina. Seems like a pretty quick turnaround for a terrorist organization, but whatever. There's also no further elaboration on the whole Shadow thing, by the way. You'd think everyone would freak out at the knowledge that Shadow has escaped containment and is clearly behind this disaster, but he's never mentioned again in the issue. This would have been the perfect opportunity to actually explain what the hell happened to him to cause such a drastic change in personality, and to have him show some actual regret and character growth from it all, but nah, he apparently just vanishes into the aether never to be seen again or face any consequences for his actions here. Great writing, Ian! Lara-Su decides that the fight is becoming a little too dicey, and decides to try appealing to Tikhaos' emotional side.

Hey, Tails! As he joins in the fight, Mina rushes in to grab their two kids and carry them to safety, much to Melody's annoyance. She protests that she and Skye are Freedom Fighters now, to which Skye emphatically agrees despite his timid nature, and this softens Mina's heart a little, no doubt remembering her own past with the original team. Meanwhile, Jacques and Belle are almost crushed by one of Tikhaos' tentacles, when Silver jumps into the fight.

While he helps stall Tikhaos, Sonic and Lara-Su discuss what needs to be done to actually stop her entirely. Manik and Sonia chime in at this point, reminding Sonic of his victory over Perfect Chaos when he was young and how he targeted its brain, and though he's not too pleased with being reminded that he's not young anymore, he decides they have a point. He calls on everyone on the field to clear a path for him as he rushes the beast, but he's not as fast as he used to be, and it turns to face him…

Look, I know Mobians like to start 'em young, but have we forgotten Sonic's kids are literally four years old?! I mean, kudos to them and all, but that's incredibly dangerous! Still, I can only imagine how popular one might be growing up if they were not only the offspring of a great war hero, but could also boast they took down a deadly monster at the age of four. With Tikhaos weakened, Lara-Su approaches while reciting Tikal's prayer, and this calms her down until she's reverted back to her ordinary Tikal-shaped spirit form, sleeping on the ground. Sonic congratulates everyone on working together effectively to save the day, and cracks a few obligatory jokes about his back hurting because, you know, he's old now.

"Chronos Control," huh? I actually like that quite a bit, nice twist on the ol' familiar Chaos Control. Sally congratulates Sonic on helping save the day, still relegated to being the useless cheerleader on the sidelines instead of doing literally anything proactive like her present-timeline self would definitely have been doing, and everyone poses for a nice final shot, excited to have formed the new Freedom Fighters. Despite the many, many (many) criticisms I have of this entire arc, it is a nice ending at least, fit to stand with the other triumphant finales in the comic at least. Still, overall, I feel like it was shallow, nonsensical, and full of bad characterizations of all the familiar characters. Individuals like Tails and Sally don't feel like themselves at all, but blank slates with the same names as their present-day counterparts, and others such as Shadow are entirely unrecognizable. Luckily for my sanity, this is the last foray we make into the Light Mobius timeline in the comic, and any future issues that deal with the future are set… a bit further into the future, if you catch my drift.

Like the last SU arc, this one ends with a teaser epilogue for the next arc, featuring none other than Finitevus coming out of a warp ring somewhere in a desert in Downunda, speaking to an unknown shadowy figure about how Angel Island is almost overhead and how he's "dying" to meet Knuckles again… Dun dun duuunnn!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #su 8 #writer: ian flynn #pencils: tracy yardley #colors: jason jensen

[southern-continent-skies]

Mirror Barrayar

I’m not writing this fic, but I wrote out a bunch of world-building/bios for a Barryar Mirror Universe while I was trying to write something else that ended up being too dubcon to fit into canon, and instead went sideways into this.

The concept of Mirror Barrayar is basically like the Star Trek version. The main difference is that the Terran Empire in Star Trek is inherently atomized and selfish; everyone is murdering/sleeping their way to the top on their own, with no personal or community ties except to The State. Mirror Barrayar still has the feudal aspect to it, so it’s different, in that you do have some residual notions of Family, Honor, and Loyalty (especially loyalty), but there’s a great deal of F You I Got Mine, as well. 

Generally, the Vor see an obligation to their proles and liegemen, but its the same way you might see an obligation to a pet. It’s reprehensible to, say, chain them outside with no food, or beat them for personal entertainment, or abandon them. But it’s also reprehensible to just let them do what they want, because they’re animals; if they snap, it’s because they’re poorly trained, and if they’re obese, it’s because you overfed them. You have absolute authority over their lives, so you need to step up and exercise that authority responsibly. But you don’t go through the motions of making sure your terrier wants you to pet it, that’s ridiculous. If it doesn’t growl, it’s fine - and if it does growl, obviously it needs more training. Keep them well-fed and happy, but never make the mistake of offering them respect.

Bios behind the cut because Long.

Emperor Gregor is recognizable, but much more Ezar-like; sharper, less concerned with ethics and more concerned with keeping power. Vordrozda was a much more conscious ploy to smoke out any actual disloyalty of Aral’s; he knew what Vordrozda was doing, and he played both sides against the middle. He didn’t want to execute Miles, but he would have done it without an existential crisis; he’d rather keep the campstool than his cousin. Not only is the position of Emperor intrinsically valuable, but it’s the only way he stays alive. Ride the tiger, however many of your friends it eats. 

He’s still depressed (neurotransmitters are a bitch), but his saving grace is duty, which he knows he can do better than anyone else - he took a swan dive on Komarr primarily because he was temporarily convinced otherwise. He wants to avoid civil war, because that needlessly endangers proles and civilians, but he’s not remotely above strategic assassination. He found Cavilo entirely attractive, and very Vor, but he didn’t really want to sign up for a marriage where he’d always have to watch his back. He doesn’t really want a partner, either; feudalism doesn’t understand the concept. Sorry, Laisa; you (and his conception of Kareen) are more like chivalrously-accommodated pets. It’s less male/female than political combatant/civilian, but the distinction is definitely there. He respects and relies on Alys, but he watches her like a hawk because he knows she has ambition. He almost wishes Ivan were a woman, because he’d hate to have to execute his favorite social General for treasonously plotting his replacement. Maybe they can come to some arrangement anyway...

Aral Vorkosigan really is loyal, because he recognizes Vorbarra authority as legitimate and therefore voluntarily submits to it. However, he’s more apt to seize power himself as a “last” resort if he feels Gregor couldn’t keep it in his own right; better, in his version of honor and duty to Ezar, to have Gregor as a puppet than a corpse. He’ll be glad to step down as Main Power Broker in Gregor’s favor, but mostly because that shit is exhausting and he’d rather retire than die. The post to Sergyar is less a compassionate sinecure and more a board-clearing move on Gregor’s part, that happily also allows him to avoid killing them (he really does like Aral and Cordelia, but you can’t make compromises on power). On a personal level, Aral is the “switch” he sort of is in canon, except he’s not remotely that self-aware, and just chalks it up to Authority Moving As It Should, i.e. Sempai Is Always On Top - which is also why he and Ges were so explosive. Technically Aral, as a Count’s heir, outranked Ges, but they weren’t in each other’s chain of command, feudally or militarily, so they had to continually fight about it. That’s what made their affair so transgressive, not the m/m aspect.

Ges Vorrutyer needs no alterations. 

Neither, for that matter, do Ezar and Serg. Really, this is just a universe where Barrayar never socially progressed beyond Dorca’s Game of Thrones bullshit, except that now they have spaceships and fast penta.

Cordelia Naismith ran ALL the way out of fucks to give after Mehta, and is much more convinced that nice gets you killed. She still wants to be nice, if it’s possible, but she’ll shank you pdq if you might be a threat. Her advice that Aral execute Carl Vorhalas was on purpose, here: show them you’re ruthless enough to kill their sons, and they’ll fall in line. And if they fall in line, they won’t threaten our own children, so win-win (except for Carl; sorry Carl. But not too sorry). Aral’s “fountain of honor” is, uh, a very relative term. (And then, of course, her Carl Vorhalas ploy backfired horribly, because that sort of relentless back-stabbing is what the Mirror Universe attitude generally gets you in the end.)

Piotr Vorkosigan died much earlier on; Cordelia isn’t taking those chances with her son, and Bothari knows which way his bread is buttered, too.

Miles Vorkosigan is much more like the caricature of himself that he and Gregor feed Cavilo, except not nuts; that same scene happens here, but it’s full of a lot more barbed back-and-forth between them, with Elena watching not in incredulous giggles but in the kind of silence that means you’re storing up actionable intelligence for later use. He loves Admiral Naismith because it gives him a stage for the plots he’d be executed for in Vorbarr Sultana, and Gregor likes it because, again, he can make use of his family members without having to execute them for being themselves. Miles nearly gets executed for his Memory falsified report business, because if Gregor can’t trust him absolutely then he just has to die. He definitely sleeps with Bel; if he can’t swear it into his service personally, establishing a sexual pair-bond is the next best thing - and besides, it’s a willing subordinate and it’s hot. Likewise, the Elli/Miles relationship is much more fraught, and Miles’s involvement with other people is much more pointed in her general direction. Elli has too much non-Barrayaran self-respect to take the hint and *submit* to Miles, but she likes him enough to put up with way too much of his power-dynamic shenanigans anyway.

Elena Bothari is much more ruthless. She leaves Barrayar because she’s tired of the barriers put in place on her gender AND her class. She wants to play the game, to be a combatant and not a civilian, but on Barrayar she was born unarmed and would be trampled sharp-ish. And that’s why she wouldn’t ever marry Miles; she wants to be an officer, not a pet. And even though she has to leave the Imperium to do it, she’s still very much operating in the Barrayaran style. Baz, the poor puppy, still doesn’t quite know what hit him; but for a pardon, a Vorkosigan connection, and a kickass, gorgeous wife, he’ll do whatever she wants.

Lady Alys is the reigning domme of Vorbarr Sultana. She rules the entire social scene, and social ladder, with an iron fist, tastefully draped in very plush velvet. Marriage contracts for the High Vor go through her first, or good luck getting an invitation to any of the Residence events this year - and she absolutely insists on her version of droit de seigneur. Unlike in canon, she is very much not in a hurry to get Gregor married off, because then she’d have to step back, and fuck that noise. She may have sabotaged a few potential matches by fucking with their gene scans. If Ivan were a woman, that dynastic loop would have been closed yesterday. As it is, she’s been hinting since forever that it might be a good idea for him to cultivate a, ah, “closer” relationship with his cousin, ifyouknowwhatimean. And her relationship with Simon Illyan is equally pragmatic, though no less enjoyable for it. After all, if Gregor dies without heirs, who would be better placed to pull her son’s strings right into the campstool? “Dowager Empress” has a ring to it, don’t you think?

Simon Illyan, Negri’s student in every way, has internalized enough Barrayaran class sensibilities to accept, and even enjoy, reflexively submitting to the Vor - as long as they’re at least as competent as he is. He’s loyal to Aral, and to Gregor, as he was to Ezar before them - but in a much more “I have weighed the pros and cons and come out on your side” sort of way. Aral and Gregor both take proper care of their vassals, after all, and better to be 2IC in heaven than to scrabble for a fighting chance in hell. If Gregor died without heirs, he would have some serious problems trying to decide between Aral and Alys (i.e. Ivan), but until that happens, he is more than happy to let them both think him Their Man. If they require assurances of such in bed, he’s more than happy with that as well. 

Ivan Vorpatril still has the whole “no ambition I prefer my head thanks” vibe, but it’s more pointed this time, because this Gregor would actually execute him if he put a toe out of line. He doesn’t want to get married, not only because then he’d have to deal with a wife, but also because it would put him in the middle of his mother’s schemes and potentially at odds with Gregor, and no thank you. The Arquas’ “analysis” in CVA that he’s been kept in the capital on purpose is actually accurate here; Gregor won’t risk such a photogenic descendant of Xav anywhere he can’t see him, and/or shoot him if necessary. Definitely potential Gregor/Ivan sequel here, in case this one doesn’t have dub enough con for you. Ivan generally tries to make himself as small a target as possible on that end of things - but he also does a great deal of “swiving” of his social inferiors, because he’s the Emperor’s cousin and he can. The Vor/“high prole” young women don’t like him very much, primarily because he expects something for nothing, but it’s easier to go on a few dates than to try to refuse. The “low prole” women who end up in bed with him… don’t bother to complain.

Laisa Toscane is as ruthless as the Barrayarans - all the Komarrans are. They cut their teeth on cutthroat capitalism, after all. Adapting to the feudal structure of the Imperium has meant some sacrifices, mostly of their pride - but pride doesn’t earn shares. She’ll bend both her knees if she can win her children, and her conglomerate, advantage in the process. Gregor’s not a bad husband - and the more he underestimates her, the more she can slip by him. Her gene scan came certified from a Komarran doctor straight to the Emperor’s personal physician - no Vorpatril fuckery possible. She hasn’t yet acquired the social capital to tell Alys to fuck off, but she’ll get there; she’s one of those Toscanes.

Duv Galeni is at least as ruthless as Laisa. He left his academic post for the Imperial Service Academy, because of course he did; he knows which way the bread is buttered, and he wants as much butter as possible for himself. His father was a naive idiot; fighting an overwhelming force for “principles” gets you nothing but pain. Duv, having learned from that experience, will do what it takes, whatever it takes, to get his. Bend over for the Butcher? Why not? It works for the Vor.

Byerly Vorrutyer only has one hand of cards, for the moment, but he plays it really, really well. He’ll suck anyone off for the social capital - and then promptly sell their pillow talk to ImpSec for extra points. Fuck you, pay me - twice, if possible. He may not be a high-level player yet, but give him a decade and a metric ton of blackmail material acquired along the way, and then we’ll see. Loyal to Dono, and to Gregor, to the extent Gregor can spare the attention; he’d gladly serve his Emperor in any sense of the word his Emperor wanted. Byerly’s attracted to power - in other people. What he wants for himself is security. His ideal endgame is to level up out of the game entirely, and just be someone’s pet - but he’s having difficulty finding anyone who would keep him in the style to which he would like to become accustomed. Dono doesn’t count - they both have had it up to here with the Vorrutyer penchant for incest, thanks. His second choice is to acquire enough cards to be untouchable in Vorbarr Sultana. Failing those, his contingency plan is to retire to the District on Dono’s pension and play court jester, but they both hope it doesn’t come to that.

Oliver Jole, bless his heart, is a junior prole officer whose competence is more military than social. He still has enough stars in his eyes to be dazzled by Vor authority, and he hasn’t been spoiled by having to serve a bad boss. On both a personal and a professional level, he’s completely in love with the idea of submission to the Vor - but whereas Simon is doing the same thing in self-awareness and as Part Of This Complete Strategy, young Oliver actually considers it some combination of personal choice and cultural obligation. It’s a good thing he’s pretty, and that Cordelia takes him in later, because the ingenue never quite grows up in that regard.

Admiral Kanzian, as a likely irrelevant-to-the-hypothetical-fic side note, is an absolute dragon of a superior officer. He got his position on the General Staff through both merit and social savvy (and, in his younger years, a bit of, uh, “personal competence”), and he’s not giving it up this side of the apocalypse. Junior Vor members of his office staff reportedly have to suck his dick before they start work, just to get them in the properly subservient frame of mind, for once. Rank hath its privileges - especially on Mirror!Barrayar.

#vorkosigan saga #au #background #not a fic #mirror mirror

[sosu-morgue]

Romanced companions reactions to having a child with Soul.

Aww, that’s so sweet

I was going to do this whole convoluted process of who is and is not having a child with Sole since non-humans can’t reproduce, like Hancock - ghouls are sterile.Unfortunately, there are many complications with that which make it too complicated to really enjoy. Curie is a synth, Danse is too, Deacon isn’t so Sole would carry the child but that means a gender neutral Sole isn’t possible.Default reacts will have a neutral Sole. I don’t want anyone to feel left out.

So Sole will be gender neutral and all children will be adopted children taken in by romanced Sole x Companion. It allows everyone to love, adopt, and raise a child while allowing you guys to imagine your own Sole; male, female, or really any gender you want whenever. : )

Context:It was a depressing reality in the commonwealth. This post-war world was changed when Sole emerged from Vault 111, but the harsh world still exhibited no mercy on the defenseless.During their travels Sole found something in need of their help. Or rather, someone.

Cait:Sole, the singular person she cared for dearly, had found a child. An infant to be exact. The kid was wrapped up in this mix of torn clothing and a section of what looked to be tarp.

Cradling the infant in their arms, Sole had this look in their eye. Something connected to them instantly. Cait didn’t know that look, but she had a guess. “Don’t tell me you’re thinkin’ what I think you’re thinkin’.”

Sole seemed awestruck by this child. A young boy with a tuft of brown hair and hazel eyes. “He has the same eyes as Shaun…” They said quietly, like a shocked response under their breath. “It’s… kind of funny. He looks a lot like Shaun, actually.”

Cait stared at Sole who never looked up for even a second. It didn’t take long for Cait to figure out what Sole wanted to do. Though they still fought to save Shaun from the Institute, they couldn’t shake this feeling.

“The hell we doin’, Sole?” Cait’s usual harsh tone caused Sole to glance up, a worried look in their eye. “We can’t just leave the little noise maker here. I know you still got Shaun’s crib.”

Sole smiled and reached to give Cait a hug with one arm. The red haired woman just shook her head. “He’s… kinda cute lookin’. For somethin’ that cries nonstop.”

Curie:Now she didn’t need a lot of convincing. She was more than thrilled to see the infant Sole brought back to Sanctuary.

She held the child, rocked them, and read them stories. She learned all these practices from various surviving books as well as Sole’s instructions. Curie felt so deeply connected to the infant the second she held them.

This affection came as a surprise to Sole and a very welcome one at that. She spent as much time as she could with the new child in their life, sharing parenthood was never something she thought about. She didn’t think it was a possibility considering herself as a synth and Sole searching desperately for their own son.

“Sweet little thing…” Curie held the child close, hugging them to her chest and kissing their nose. “I love you.”

Danse:His life was a… complicated and confusing mess since he was kicked out of the Brotherhood. As a synth he believed his life was an affront to humanity, a threat to future of this world. The Institute created him in a lab, he was not born, he had no family.

Well, expect for Sole. They became his only family and he was thankful, even though he didn’t understand why Sole chose to be with a synth.

Now the complicating life he lead with Sole got even stranger. He figured, before he discovered he was a synth, eventually he would have a family and possibly a child. He would age, he would have to retire from active duty. Something he never wanted to happen, but now that he wasn’t with the Brotherhood…

He held the infant in his arms up, careful to support their neck and head. He had no idea what to do, this was far more confusing than anything else.

But Sole knew what to do, Sole knew everything from the very beginning. Which made sense of course, they had a child before so of course they knew more than Danse.

Yet he held the child, felt how soft their skin was, how they smiled until their face turned red.

And he fell for the child immediately. It was difficult, he didn’t know what to do about this, he didn’t know if he should say this or if this wasn’t normal.

Sole placed a hand on the baby’s head, catching Danse’s attention. They smiled at him and he grinned back.He never thought much about a family outside the Brotherhood and now he wished he had before. He loved the promise of this new civilian life.

Deacon:He missed his wife dearly, he always thought about raising a child with her. Of course he knew that wasn’t possible now, but back then… it was a different world.

Holding this child in his arms he patted their back to calm them. Sole had this sweet, loving expression as they watched Deacon with the child. Deacon was surprised he had imagined it so accurately, specifically how it would feel to hold a child of their own.

This infant was all he wanted as a family. The kid wasn’t a big crier, they seemed more into staring and touching than anything else. When the infant grabbed the rim of his glasses he chuckled. They were reflective and that was perfect for the kid.

“I think they’re digging the shades, Deacon.” Sole took a step back, watching Deacon’s smile widening.

“Of course, they have good taste.” He lifted the infant up, watching them holding the sunglasses to their mouth and sucking on them. “I didn’t mean literally.”

Hancock:The kid was cared for certainly - it was unfortunate that the parents were part of a violent gang ambushing caravans. Sole had to stop the attacks, they were crippling Minutemen supply lines to settlements. Sole and Hancock had no idea there was an infant down here until they heard the cries.

Sole took a shine to the kid the second they found them. Carrying the infant out of the dilapidated super duper mart, Sole found themselves unable to let go of the kid.Then Sole proposed the… option of taking the infant back to Sanctuary and raising them. It was sudden and unexpected, Hancock had no idea what to say.

So Sole suggested that they take the kid in, but Hancock didn’t have to be there. They simply did not want to force anything on Hancock especially since this was such a sudden turn of events and a huge commitment.

Hancock hesitated, he didn’t know what to do. All he really knew was he was in deep with Sole, he didn’t want to leave their side. It took some time, he took a few days to consider it.

In the end he saw how much Sole loved the child, how much they doted on them. He figured Sole was the person he wanted to be with, if there was anyone he wanted to raise a kid with… Sole was definitely the person.

At the end of it all he took up the responsibility. After all, someone had to be mayor when he retired.

MacCready:Having a kid was nothing alien to MacCready. He loved Duncan like his life depended on it. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his son and he didn’t think he would have another child anytime soon.

Yet here he stood, Sole at his side cradling an infant and cooing to them. Sole loved the child, adored them with everything they had. The kid would want for nothing under the protection of the pre-war survivor from Vault 111. Between Sole, the Minutemen, and Sole’s network of loyal friends and factions - this was the most well protected child in all the commonwealth.

When Sole raised the child to MacCready and he held the infant in his arms, he was smitten with them. The infant held his finger, all bubbly and just happy to be there. Such a sweet happy little child so curious and excited.

He held the infant close, rocking the baby until they grew tired. When the infant fell asleep in his arms, such a content look on their face, MacCready realized Duncan had just got a sibling.

Sole was glad because they already knew the kid would be staying with them in Sanctuary. There was no other option. With MacCready and Sole’s experience raising children, they both were ready for this one and more than happy to take the child in.

Nick:In this dark, grisly, and struggling world raising a child seemed impossible to Nick. For more than one reason for Nick, obviously him being a synth made having a child with any relationship he started would not happen.

Still people raised children and they grew up either in the commonwealth by wanderers, by settlers, or people living in the few towns in the area. He found it rather hopeful, he was glad to see people still trying to live their lives. Seeing the kids run around Diamond City was always a welcome sight.

He never thought about caring for a child himself. There just wasn’t that option, not until he arrived in Sanctuary seeing Sole in their home holding an infant in their arms.

The kid was not Shaun, he knew that. Shaun was older than an infant, they learned that from Kellogg’s memory. This was another child, he didn’t know where from but seeing Sole carry them close…

Nick sat down across from Sole, sure to be quiet as the child slept. Sole gave him an almost nervous smile which Nick returned. He figured this was how it would happen. Unexpected, surprising for sure, yet he welcomed the chance to raise a child with Sole quickly.

Piper:She was always trying to raise Nat, always trying to keep things together. Between work, raising her sister, and crossing the commonwealth with Sole she barely had any time to herself.

So when Sole and Piper found a child in the home of some farmers that had been murdered by raiders, she didn’t know what to think.

Sole took the child back to Sanctuary, resting the exhausted and upset infant in Shaun’s old crib, they took a serious look at their options. Watching the child sleep, Sole knew exactly what they wanted. They wanted to move on… Sole still had Shaun, the synth child made by the real Shaun, who was gone now.

But giving Shaun a sibling, having the chance to raise a child… Sole felt a compulsion to have this chance.

Piper wasn’t against the idea really, she just didn’t know what to do. How to raise a child in the commonwealth wasn’t an easy task. Seeing Sole coddle the child brought a smile to her face.When she cared for the infant, she grew attached quicker than she anticipated.

It didn’t take long before she and Sole agreed to raise the child together, Shaun now had a sibling, and Nat became an aunt.

Preston:He was proud, thrilled to get this chance as a father. He wanted a family, he wanted to make the world safe enough to have a kid and a significant other like Sole.

Now, with the General of the Minutemen, and the Minutemen themselves connecting all across the commonwealth. This was the most secure they might ever be.

When Sole found the child and shared their plan with Preston, he was happy to take on the challenge of raising a child with them. He adored the child, dedicated his days to caring for them and making the world a safer place while they grew up.

He was the happiest he had ever been, it had been far too long since he felt this hopeful for the future. Rebuilding the Minutemen made him hope for the best, but it wasn’t the same.

Now he had someone he loved, a child he would give his life for, and a people he could trust to do right by the commonwealth.

His life, even though he still fought against raiders, mutants, and so many other threats, was perfect. He had everything he ever wanted and never imagined he’d have.

With Sole and his own child in his arms, he knew everything would turn out just fine.

#Fallout 4 Companions react #Fallout 4 Companion reactions #Fallout 4 #FO4 #companions react #companion reactions #Cait #Curie #Danse #Deacon #Hancock #MacCready #Nick #Piper #Preston #React

[halothenthehorns]

The Supernatural Gospel

Chapter 4 The Sacrifices Made

The 1967 Chevy Impala was as close to home as Sam had ever known, making it all the more fitting it was suited up for war. Dad really must be missing for Dean to even have the old impala. Dean walked around back and popped open the trunk to find one duffle bag, a towel and shirt poking out of the unzipped end. Then he lifted the cover where a spare tire should be, and the usual array of neatly assorted weapons most people couldn't even name looked up at Sam like some old nightmare.

Dean grabbed one of the many guns available to prop it up. Then wiggled his fingers over various guns, knives, and other objects Sam could identify all too well as his brother muttered to himself, "All right, let's see, where the hell did I put that thing?"

"So when Dad left, why didn't you go with him?" This was still bothering him most of all. Was he determined to push everyone away, even the son he preferred?

  "I was working my own gig. This, uh, voodoo thing, down in New Orleans." Dean said very casually. Sam noticed for the first time Dean was still wearing the amulet he'd given him years ago, and can't stop a smile.

Sam was, surprised. Maybe a little impressed. If ever he'd thought about them at all, he'd have expected them to just keep going same old same old as if he'd never been there. He hadn't thought his Dad was capable of change. "Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" Just to confirm someone hadn't been there. Bobby? Caleb?

Dean's apparently insulted by the question though. "I'm twenty-six, dude." As if Sam weren't aware. He'd also apparently found his prize, a folder with plenty of slips of paper stuffed in. "All right, here we go. So Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy," he hands Sam the one on top, "they found his car, but he vanished. Completely MIA."

The paper is a printout of an article from the Jericho Herald, headlined 'Centennial Highway Disappearance' and dated Sept. 19th 2005; it has a man's picture, captioned 'Andrew Carey MISSING.' Sam skims it and glances up.

"So maybe he was kidnapped," not everything had to be related to their line of work. Surely Dad hadn't gone on just this.

"Yeah. Well, here's another one in April," Dean tosses down another Jericho Herald article for each date he mentions. "Another one in December 'oh-four, 'oh-three, 'ninety-eight, 'ninety-two, ten of them over the past twenty years." Dean takes the article back from Sam and picks up the rest of the stack, putting them back in the folder. "All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road."

Okay, so either a serial killer, or definitely their kind of gig.

Dean pulls a bag out of another part of the arsenal. "It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough." Dean grabs a handheld tape recorder. "Then I get this voicemail yesterday." He presses play. The recording is staticky and the signal was clearly breaking up, but it was Dad's voice. "Dean...something big is starting to happen...I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may... Be very careful, Dean. We're all in danger." Dean presses stop.

"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam said automatically.

"Not bad, Sammy. Kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?"

Sam wanted to bristle and correct it was obvious to anyone, but then got a chill at the idea of Jess having followed them down here, listening to this, being so lost and confused like so many civilians trying desperately to keep up. They weren't even in the car yet and Sam was already starting to separate us and them again. He shook his head at himself and let Dean keep going.

"All right. I slowed the message down, I ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got." He presses play again.

A female voice whispered up to them now, "I can never go home..."

Dean presses stop with a rather triumphant expression.

"Never go home," Sam repeats, that was ghostly if he'd ever heard it. the words echoing oddly in his head, and he tried not to think of why Dad hunting this particular thing should be any more significant than anything else.

Dean drops the recorder, puts down the shotgun to let the hatch fall, stands straight, and shuts the trunk, then leans on it. "You know, in almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing."

Sam looks away, back towards the dorms and where Jess is still waiting. He half expected to see her peeking out the window at them. They were just nightmares he scolded himself again. If Dad really had finally bitten off more than he could chew though, if he and Dean rescued him and then Sam still made it back to his interview on Monday, would that finally prove to Dad he could do both?

Dean at least seemed willing to try.

"All right. I'll go. I'll help you find him." Dean nods. There was no visible emotion on his face, but Sam still would have bet it was somewhere in there. like relief, or even happiness, god forbid. "But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here." He wanted to at least grab a change of clothes and say goodbye to Jess.

Dean called in confusion, "what's first thing Monday?" Sam hadn't even gotten to the stairs.

"I have this...I have an interview." Sam already knew Dean wouldn't understand.

"What, a job interview? Skip it." He at once proves his brother's point. Dean had never had to sit through an interview in his life.

"It's a law school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate." Sam corrected, had his brother thought he was hanging around here for the over priced apartments?

"Law school?" Dean isn't really surprised, it fit Sammy well. Who better to find loopholes and fight the system than his little brother.

"So we got a deal or not?" Sam challenges.

Dean just silently nods. A part of him really meant it, he couldn't stop Sam and more, he wasn't even sure he wanted to. Sam actually seemed happy here, far more than Dean had seen him through all of his teenage years. He didn't answer though, even as Sam took it as one and went back up the stairs, because Dean still pictured in his head rescuing their Dad, the two finally talking instead of yelling. This could fix everything and they could just go back to normal...

Sam changed into a plain, forgettable, unmarked blue shirt and a tan, thick but forgettable jacket. He tossed the dirty shirt over his shoulder towards the hamper without looking, his eyes on a duffel bag now, packing all the weapons he'd clung to over the years into it, including a large hook-shaped knife, the .45, and extra pants for when these inevitably got torn up. Jess comes into the room from the bathroom, immediately sussing the situation. "Wait, you're taking off?"

Sam looks up at her with longing. Just one conversation with his brother again had convinced him he definitely didn't want her to come. They'd deal with this and he'd be back here Monday and they'd never have to talk about this weekend again.

"Is this about your dad? Is he all right?" She sounded so concerned, Sam quickly smiled and put her at ease. It bothered him how fake it felt, it was the one he put up to tell a story, just like riding a bike...

She came and sat on the bed. Sam turned away from her, towards a dresser. "Yeah. You know, just a little family drama." He didn't need the extra shirts he grabbed as he avoided her eyes, he wasn't going to be gone that long.

"Your brother said he was on some kind of hunting trip."

Oh how Sam wished his Dad's biggest concern was a ten-point buck. "Oh, yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin, he's probably got Jim, Jack, and José along with him. I'm just going to go bring him back." It felt nice and appropriately vague, let her fill in the blanks, not too many details. Give an inch and most people will fill in the story themselves and stop asking questions.

"What about the interview?" What about me? He met her eyes again and scoffed at the notion. It was only a nightmare.

"I'll make the interview," I'll come back. "I'll make the interview. This is only for a couple days." He grabs the bag and makes for the door.

"Sam, I mean, please." There's an edge in her voice that has him dropping the bag at once, turning back to face her. "Just stop for a second. You sure you're okay?"

He was far from okay. This wasn't exactly his worst nightmare, but he'd certainly hoped his past wouldn't come back to haunt him before he'd even gotten started on his future. Then he laughs at himself for ever trying to pretend otherwise. They were just nightmares.

"It's just...you won't even talk about your family. And now you're taking off in the middle of the night to spend a weekend with them? And with Monday coming up, which is kind of a huge deal."

Great, he already sounded like a crazy person to her and she didn't even know the whole of it yet. He definitely wasn't telling her, he couldn't lose her. he could have both.

"Hey. Everything's going to be okay. I will be back in time, I promise. I love you."

He kisses her on the cheek, scoops up the bag, and leaves. It felt rushed, but he just couldn't take anymore of her questions tonight, not on top of all the ones he had for Dean and his Dad. He could explain everything when he got back. They'd have a nice long talk when he got back and then he'd see where that led. He heard her shout to at least tell her where he was going, but he pretended he didn't hear, Jess had too many questions as it was. that he didn't want to answer.

#supernautral #fanfiction #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #John Winchester #Jessica Moore #The Winchester Gospel

[sosu-morgue]

Hi! I just read one of your reacts and it was brill! Could I request maybe the first time the companions knew they were in love with (a preferably female but if you’d rather keep it neutral im game) sole ? Especially hancock because im hancock trash lmao love that ghoul x

You got it! I’ll do F!SS, I truly do not mind any gender preferences of my asks. I love doing it all!I’m so glad you liked the last one, it was my very first so I was really nervous~(somewhat extra long Hancock romance part just for you) I just worked with whatever came to mind, trying to test what I can write off the top of my head.So I hope it’s good!

Please feel free to message anything was missing or you want to see something specific! I’m always happy to do “companion reactions” for a specific companion too.

Please forgive any grammatical errors, it took a good few hours to write this and I’m finishing at 2:00 AM. I will correct any I find later :)

Some companion story line spoilersAlso it’s LOOOONNNNNGGGG

Context:Sole, the pre-war survivor from Sanctuary, frozen in Vault 111. She came here to save her son, meeting colorful people along the way.All sorts of people flocked to her, but most of all she attracted…

Cait:Damn. She sighed, standing up from that awful chair. Cait felt horrible, trying to keep herself upright when she felt Sole’s hands helping her. It took a minute before Cait felt like she was able to even see straight.

Cait felt fresh, somehow she felt physically lighter. Everything seemed so… bright.

The first thing she saw with any clarity was Sole’s face. She looked worried, but hopeful. An kindness to Sole’s features entirely alien to Cait.

It’s as if Sole wasn’t even real; some kind of apparition designed to appease something Cait never thought existed.

A person who wanted to be there for their friend. A person who didn’t ask for their loyalty, caps, or anything else. She only wanted to care for her friend and hoped that friend wanted the same. Sole trusted Cait; something Cait wanted to resist.

There were so many rules of the world that Cait established. A hard earned understanding of people, of how everything functions in the commonwealth. Outside the commonwealth too, of course.

But… Sole was kind and gentle, but terrifyingly fierce when she wanted to be. She wanted to help her friends, defend innocent people, and Cait had heard Sole refuse payment for these acts of kindness many times.

There was no backstabbing plan in the end, no turn around for the people she helped. Sole did what they needed, so long as it was for a good cause, and wanted for nothing.

Generosity was not a word Cait believed in, yet she believed in Sole. 

They left Vault 95, Cait pausing just behind Sole as she walked out into the sunlight. With a deep sigh of annoyance, Cait cursed under her breath.I fuckin’ love that idiot.

Curie:She didn’t really know when she did. It was only a feeling that slowly built up, then washed over her like rain. Pleasant, sweet - she liked it and didn’t understand why.

Sole would not push Curie to do anything until she figured it out. There was no need for pressure, Curie had to learn how to live in a new body. Things were complicated enough as it was without having to deal with a budding romance; something that was complicated even to humans.

As the days went by Sole and Curie spent most of their time together. Being so close to Sole made Curie feel tense, it was a good kind of tense, but she wanted to satisfy whatever that feeling was.

She narrowed it down to longing. A strange emotion that was difficult to explain and more difficult to understand. This happened when she was away from Sole for any period of time.

But when she was with Sole the feeling turned into this uncomfortable churning. Something she learned had many names. One of those names was passion.

Curie gazed over at the sleeping form of Sole, the soft rise of her chest.

Suddenly Curie felt a powerful want to be resting with her, touching her… sharing a private moment with her.

Though she was aware of the word she was cautious to use it. It meant so much to people, often a major focus of their lives. Curie wondered… perhaps she could be this focus for Sole.

Curie had learned, understood what it meant. This was more than just affection for the person who helped her become a synth, allowing her to experience so much more of life.

This was desire to be with Sole, to be able to hold her. Only her, no one else. Curie now only hoped Sole felt the same.

Danse:He never quite caught onto anything that was not Brotherhood related. He stuck to his loyalties and never strayed far, romance of a civilian was not something he deemed acceptable.

Now his world changed.

No longer was his life dedicated to the Brotherhood, to their cause. He didn’t share those plans anymore, he didn’t believe in them.Sole was the cause of that, convincing him that everything he had done for the Brotherhood was being repaid with cruelty.

Synth or not - Danse dedicated his life to the Brotherhood. He fought for them, risked his life for them, and he knew he followed Maxson unerringly. Though Danse agreed with the Brotherhood that he should die, Sole disagreed.

She was the most charismatic and persuasive person he knew. Danse believed that Maxson was with how he rallied his soldiers and gave them the passion to fight for the Brotherhood’s cause.

But Sole… she convinced him that he should live. That his years of service to the Brotherhood proved that he, even as a synth, did not deserve execution. That Maxson was acting out of hatred to people he didn’t know.

Danse knew Sole wanted him to understand the Brotherhood’s morals were… questionable at best… and somewhere in the back of his head he knew that.

It didn’t matter though, he didn’t care to exploring those thoughts. Fact or opinion changed nothing. He wanted to move on with his life, learn how to live as a synth and figure out who he really was.

He is a synth who hated synths, a prejudice towards a whole that he now grew closer to.

Danse had judged Sole’s other friends. Nick Valentine, the older synth that didn’t hide himself. John Hancock, the ghoul mayor of Goodneighbor, a town with many under the table dealings. Curie, a pre-war machine turned synth.He won’t even mention Strong. His feelings on Strong hadn’t changed that much.

He joined them as an equal forming a new brotherhood… in a sense.Danse needed a new purpose and Sole got him a role within the Minutemen, he was a soldier once again.

Still, the Minutemen did not replace the Brotherhood to Danse.Sole would brush passed him and guide him… She had replaced the betrayal of the Brotherhood.She was his new purpose.

Deacon:The man who could blend in anywhere, remaining undetected all around the commonwealth. He found a friend in Sole who showed up on the Railroad’s doorstep with a sarcastic attitude and a receipt for good karma a mile long.

Her help was invaluable to the Railroad, furthering their efforts to free enslaved synths more than anyone had before. She was critical to both the survival of the Railroad and the synths.

That wasn’t why he liked her so much. Well, not the only reason.

Deacon traveled with her on tasks with no connection to the Railroad or Institute. He got to see firsthand how she was in the remote parts of the commonwealth with no agenda.

Yes, he was with her, but it didn’t matter. She was so genuine to the people she helped, so compassionate.

He figured he shouldn’t be surprised, she wasn’t raised in this world. So the ‘for yourself, fuck everyone else’ mentality wasn’t natural to her like it was to everyone else.

Slowly but surely, she helped him too. Partly in ways she did not know about and some she did. Though he was unsure if he could ever return that favor or even want to tell her about it.Not that he didn’t want to trust her, open up to her. He did this because sometimes potentially losing a friendship is not worth admitting to an emotional connection like that.

He knew himself better than that though. He knew he would say something eventually, regardless of how.Deacon did not find a singular moment where he loved her, it was many things that built up until he came to this conclusion.

Here, watching her help a commonwealth settler restore their home after super mutants tore it apart, he decided on how he felt about Sole.

When he was ready, he would tell her.

Hancock:She restored everything, she gave everything to everyone no matter how bleak it seemed.

He watched her walking ahead of him, a ghoul child in her arms. His name is Billy and he was trapped in a pre-war fridge. She had broken open the fridge door in a flash, helping Billy out and on his feet.

He was in there so long, she insisted on helping him. So she lifted him in her arms and carried him on her hip. Billy was too old to be carried, considering he is a child not including the 200 odd years he was stuck in a fridge. But she was concerned for his well being.

Trapped for so long, pitch black, unable to really move - she thought he would have a hard time adjusting. It was so simple to her; carry him. She reassured him they would go to Quincy immediately, redirecting their course from another task deemed quite critical in order to find her own son.

Yet she still stopped everything to save someone else’s son. She didn’t do it for a reward or expecting to find something, it just came natural to her. To help all people she came across.

Hancock, upon seeing her dote on Billy as if she was his mother, definitely made him think of her in a different light. Not that he hadn’t been attracted to her before - she is a gorgeous woman no doubt. That made him interested.

He would be attracted to any attractive person. That’s not news to anyone. He is attracted to her because of things like this.

She was unreal, her moral compass never wavered for a second. She is fiercely loyal, honest, trustworthy, empathetic, and her charisma; oh, how he loved how confidently she carried herself. Both physically and otherwise.

The second that they came across the slaver, she snapped at him. Though her expletives were censored. She purposefully went around certain words to both enforce how offended she was at the offer while not cursing like a drunk in front of Billy.

In Quincy, they found his home. And in Quincy, they found his parents.

It was perfect, like a story book. She and Hancock both didn’t believe his parents were alive, it was so unlikely it was ridiculous. Yet there they stood, Matt and Carol Peabody, the parents of Billy. All ghouls.

Hancock watched the family reunion, the three holding each other close stunned that each other were still alive.But Hancock wanted to see the pride Sole felt having been the catalyst for Billy’s return. Surely she would be beyond thrilled, feeling the same he did having brought them together.He loved shit like this. People pulling through, surviving, and finding each other. It really was amazing.

He didn’t find Sole beaming as she would after doing a good deed. She was facing the family, but her head was tilted to the side, eyes downcast. There was a faint smile on her face, yet it was a sad one.

Hancock sighed, he didn’t think about it at first. He saw the family talking among themselves, talking about what happened 200 years ago.

Sole wanted that and she didn’t know if she ever would. While she was happy they were together again, she could not help thinking about her own family.

How Shaun would never meet his father. How Shaun had already grown a few years, he think she said he was about ten now? He had been staying with the man who killed his father.She had so much to do in order to find Shaun and there was no promise he was still alive at all.

Hancock didn’t know what to say. He did want her to know he got it, that it’s all going to be okay. They’d find Shaun, just like they found Billy.

Then came another threat and he saw the instantaneous change in her demeanor. The man who wanted to buy Billy returned and he came back in numbers.

The intense fury that woman had… a contempt only capable by experience.

She tore through the slavers like a nuke fired from a fat man. The Peabody’s stayed inside, protected by Hancock in case any of the slavers got through her. No surprise that not a single slaver survived.

When she returned, her rifle was steaming and she had hateful gleam in her eye. Hancock figured that was her killing Kellogg all over again - just for someone else.

The Peabody’s thanked them, insisted on a reward which she naturally turned down. Then offered them a place at any of her many settlements protected by the Minutemen. All human, ghoul, and synth friendly with a grand defense. She gave them a gun, ammo, and enough caps to feed their family for a long time.

They would consider the offer to the settlement; she did not force anything.

Billy returned to her, she kneeled down, and he gave her a hug which she happily returned. Telling him to take care, be smart, and listen to his parents.

Back on the road she returned to their purpose out here as if nothing phased her. Strong as ever.

Hancock ran a hand over the back of his neck, not quite sure how to start, but figuring it was better than letting it pass. She deserved some appreciation.

“Hey,” He patted her arm with the back of his hand, “You did good with them, Billy’s a good kid. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

Sole nodded, “Yeah, I know.” Her tone was happy with a barely noticeable undertone.

Man… Hancock pulled her arm slightly, letting her know to stop a moment. She was confused, but didn’t mind chatting if he wanted to. He did, for sure, though he wanted to chat for her.

“It’s gonna’ be okay, y’know?” Hancock assured her. Poorly, perhaps, he didn’t like hitting the nail on the head too hard. It was better to be careful, allowing her to duck out if she wanted.

Sole gave him a lopsided smirk, “Well, course. They survived this long alone, I’m fairly sure they can continue. They’re smart, it’s no problem if they don’t go to a settlement.”

Again, he tried. “Look, I get it. With Billy and his parents.” Sole’s expression turned somber, finally understanding the point. “We’ll find him and we’ll bring him back, you know that, right?”

She didn’t respond for a moment, she thought to herself what to say. To her it wasn’t an option to express all the pent up stress and emotion she felt about Shaun. So she slid her arms over his shoulders, hugging him tightly to her.

Not what he expected and not unwelcome. Hancock returned the embrace, figuring it was comforting to her. To him too, but he wouldn’t say that.

He hadn’t actually touched her skin before, not really. Maybe during a fight he brushed passed her, but her skin… It was so smooth. Yes, she’s human. Hancock had been with smoothskin women before and it wasn’t even close.

This was the skin and warmth of a pre-war woman that didn’t grow up irradiated, burning in the hot sun, or suffering from some other affliction.Sole is perfect, inside and out. It was just how wonderful she felt skin to skin. It was like running his hands through down feathers. Impossibly soft.

He didn’t want to let go, he wanted this all the time. He wanted her.

When she released him, she continued their path. Hancock felt that telltale spark, feeling caught off guard. He liked her before, cared for her a lot… this wasn’t the affection two close friends have.

Hancock swallowed hard, his mouth dry. Watching her start walking ahead he really got it this time.

He was completely, helplessly in love with her.

And he had no idea if she would have a ghoul like him.

MacCready:He really didn’t think about falling for someone, especially not someone who employed him.

But she did what she could for him, with Daisy, to help Duncan. It was all so much for someone to do, someone who just up and hired him one day. He had no words to express himself properly.

She insisted it was nothing, that she would’ve done it even if she hadn’t been working with him all this time. Just like that, like it was nothing.

No caps, no trades, nothing. He believed in tough love for sure, though that didn’t mean there can’t be the occasional good deed here or there. To her those good deeds were her day to day life.

He was thankful, more than thankful, that she followed through with him. From the times she helped others for nothing to her haggling talents; he felt like he had it all.

She could be domineering to strangers and yet generous to others. He had no idea how she always seemed to know who needed what and when. Also how; she could just look at some random person and know.

Clairvoyant was the word for it. That’s just nonsense though, she was simply talented at understanding their perspective and empathize. It was uncanny how she settled into the life of everyone she came across with ease.

Provided they weren’t trying to kill her.

MacCready wanted to make caps in the commonwealth, to survive well, to keep his head above water. He believed in community being a mutually beneficial arrangement.

It wasn’t really her random acts of kindness that made him gravitate towards her. It was her unwavering loyalty to her companions, how she served them and did what they needed to keep them as well set up as she was.

She is kind too, she is beautiful. MacCready wiped the sweat off his forehead as they traveled through the heat. It was brutal and she tossed him a canteen of chilled water, purified.

He gave her a nod and drank. Relieved, he passed it back and watched her drink.It felt so normal to be out with her, like a part of him he didn’t know he wanted. He wasn’t sure if this really was love, he loved Lucy, but maybe… maybe he could do both?

Nick:There was a distinct moment he found himself loving this pre-war woman.

She tracked down the tapes, helped him find Winter and end him. It was revenge hidden under the guise of justice. Nick needed this, he truly needed it to be done so he could move on.

Maybe it was foolish, maybe he should admit the purpose of this whole thing. Aside from the obvious that he wanted Winter gone, he wanted to tie the last loose end left behind by the pre-war Nick Valentine. The man he carries the memories of and hid namesake.

He felt like he was pre-war detective Nick Valentine, but was aware of himself enough to recognize he is not that Nick. He’s his own person, sharing the memory of someone who died a long time ago.

She knew that too, it was clear as day to her. He didn’t know why he had such trouble understanding this. It was more complicated than he could put into words, yet when he tried she beat him to it. Always with the right thing to say at the moment, never too presumptuous, never invasive.

Aside from her interactions with him, she was openhanded all the time. Everything she had she was happy to give away to someone else if they asked of her.

She crossed the commonwealth over a dozen times, finding more people to save and more to settlements to build up. She established safe havens all over, none of them served her. She did not charge them fees like other landowners would. There was no tax or extortion.

If someone wanted to live there, she would do her best to accommodate them. If she could not, she would find an alternative.

What’s even more impressive is if she found a potential threat that needed her attention, she would handle it as soon as she could. Her willingness to risk her life for others was a trait he didn’t ask of anyone, but… he really didn’t know how to say he was honored to be at her side.

People began to recognize the two. They knew her first of course, but she traveled with Nick so often some people began to notice he was a part of all this.

For the first time he saw people uniting to the betterment of the commonwealth. He saw them change from hopeless wanderers, desperate families, and aimless vagrants into stand up people. They became hard workers. Some were farmers, others vendors in the settlements, some were taught engineering to maintain the generators and water pumps.

Together they became more. The world was safer with Sole in it.

And he got to be there with her through it all.He looked down to his metal hand, almost wincing when he saw it. He didn’t need reminding he is a synth - it’s just when he got lost in his own mind thinking about the woman that held his affections.

He is an old Gen 2 synth, damaged without any full repairs in sight. He wanted to believe her kindness extended to him in that way.That she could love a metal man… he doubted it. But that didn’t mean he loved her any less.

Piper:This sly reporter found so much to fill her papers with just by hanging out with Sole for a day. She was a walking story waiting to be told to the masses. Excitement, humor, romance, and it could tug on the ol’ heartstrings.

She knew it would be an easy week writing for Diamond City when she got to go out with Sole. She always wanted to go, to take on the commonwealth one mission at a time.

Not to say that she didn’t care about the people she wrote about. Piper thought that it was her compassion that allowed her to write better articles for Diamond City.

Sole was always a little embarrassed when she saw the papers or Piper ran a fresh print by Sole. It flattered her to hear the good things Piper wrote about her, even though now all Diamond City knew her name and she had a kind of celebrity status.

Sole always acted strange when Piper read the paper to her. She knew why and she just wanted to let Sole know people appreciated her.

She deserved the praise. Sole did so much for the people and Piper wanted to be the one to show her, prove to her, she is amazing. Her day was always better when Sole walked into Pulick Occurrences.

It never was enough for Sole to be kind, she wanted to care for them. When Sole was around she always managed to make everyone feel welcome. Approachable, humble - what wasn’t this woman capable of?

Nat eyed Piper when she watched Sole leave, a childish grin on her face.

“You like her.” Nat teased, dropping another paper onto the coffee table. That sly look the same one Piper would give to others.

Piper controlled herself, making sure she didn’t jump when Nat said that. “What? Yeah, she’s my friend.” She laughed, brushing it off.

Nat wasn’t done though. “You like like her.”

Piper felt her face slowly heating up, “She’s a good friend, she’s the protector of the commonwealth.”

Turning to walk up the stairs to her bed, Nat just nodded. “You’re not that good of a liar.” The girl disappeared upstairs, leaving a flustered Piper behind.

“Oh what do you know.” Piper huffed to herself, “She doesn’t, that’s what- no, I mean, she-” She sighed, unable and far too frustrated to form the retort she wanted. Not that it mattered, Nat wasn’t listening.

Is it that obvious? Piper bit her nail, anxious to know. Did Sole know too?

Preston:His love for Sole was the love of two brothers in arms.

Well, brother and sister in arms? He didn’t know what to call her anymore really. Aside from General of course. He always addressed her properly, though she insisted on a more casual approach.

He didn’t think he could do that though. It was all he used to keep himself in check around her.

While Preston did keep the Minutemen alive during their lowest time, it was Sole that restored even greater than it was before. Now the Minutemen were strong enough to train more people, patrol the roads between settlements, and positively change people’s lives.

He never wanted to be a General, he didn’t want that responsibility. He was better on the ground, better being up close. Preston knew exactly where he was best at and it’s where he wanted to be.

It might be thanks to the accumulative effort of all the Minutemen that made them strong, but he still looked up to her.

A woman from the past, over 200 years his senior which made him feel strange, and somehow she came into this world in a blaze. She started making the world a better place as soon as she was able to stand on her own.

She was impressive to say the least. A power to be reckoned with and she used that power to defend the good people trying to survive. No matter how big she got, she was always so down to earth.

Not a single Minuteman had not met her at some point. She welcomed them all with open arms, thanking them for joining their cause, making sure they all felt like they were making a difference.

Approval from the famous 111 meant something in the commonwealth. It give people pride for what they do and bolstered morale.

He loved knowing the Minutemen loved her. Their General was the example they all followed.

She offered so much to the world, yet all Preston really wanted was her. He wanted to be by her side, not for the prestige, but for the way he saw her back when they met.

During the early days when she fought for the Minutemen without really knowing anything about them. All she knew is Preston wanted to do good and she wanted to help.

She told him that she followed his example of a Minutemen and that’s why she  believes she managed this.

Preston had no idea how to respond so he just thanked her.

He really wanted to do something big, something to tell her how much he really wanted her. He thought it was his moment and he had no idea what to do with it. So it passed and he regretted it.

So he waited and planned for something new. He needed something special, just the two of them. He loved her and he was ready to take the chance that she might feel the same way.

#Fallout 4 Companion reactions #Fallout 4 Companions React #Companions React #Companion Reactions #FO4 #Cait #Curie #Danse #Deacon #Hancock #MacCready #Nick #Piper #Preston #Romance #Friends to Lovers