How did Winona not get caught rubbing her feet at the dance?
I’m super confused by this question LOL??? it makes it sound like she can’t rub her own feet x,D she was wearing shoes a smidge too small for her and was getting blisters, is there something I’m not understanding here??
Another tag from the ever lovely @hellektr0 which I am hilariously late for, but figured better late than never in any case! Since the WIP I posted of Lover’s Lament seemed to go well on my last post here, I thought I’d post another little fun tidbit from the same chapter :3c
Enjoy under the cut! :D a bit spoiler-y I guess but hopefully not too much LOL
~Faerie, signing out (and I, as always, tag anyone and everyone who’d like to partake in the fun challenge!! please tag me if you do so I can read whatever you’ve written!)
Emptying his pockets of the spoils of one standard vault vending machine’s entire stock of snack cakes—save for one, to bring to Winona immediately—Butch’s jacket was next, left shucked off his shoulders to drape over the back of the dining table chair he claimed to be his. Boots were pried off with the help of the opposing foot, and the Tunnel Snake finally made his impatient entrance into Winona’s back bedroom, following the idle flutter of her humming. It wasn’t accompanied, as it usually was, by the racket of her tinkering (read as, hammering) loudly away on her latest project, like expected. Peering around the doorway to her workbench in the corner, Butch was immediately rooted to the spot by the visage which graced him.
Winona sat perched on a stool, a leg threaded lazily through the foot ring with her hips drawn back on the seat, causing a delicious curve to her bare back as her forearms held her weight on the edge of her work station counter, wearing the bottom half of a tattered jumpsuit with that God damn halter top that was going to be the death of him one day. Her hair fell in rebellious alabaster curls over her shoulder despite her best efforts to keep it contained under a printed kerchief, and a hand came to thoughtlessly brush them away, a blackened eraser pinned between graphite-smudged fingers, so they went spilling down her bare back instead in twisting tendrils.
She continued with her sketching on a huge furl of graph paper, and he watched her, quite silent and nearly admiring, until she took notice of his presence in the doorway with the lifting of her gaze. The moment her eyes caught his, his heart thrummed in response—but it wasn’t until she smiled, honest and tender like she was genuinely happy to see him—did it stop dead in his chest, like it was holding its breath in anticipation of something.
Or maybe that was all just him, because he felt a sharp breath leave him in that second before he remembered to breathe.
very clever how you cropped out my tag "bethesda critical" which made it perfectly easy for anyone who didn't want to see that commentary to filter the post
In the spirit of a general writing Wednesday, I was tagged again by @hellektr0 to participate in the prompt! It was super fun last time and I was excited to get tagged in it again, so I could share a bit of what I’m working on right now as I’m bouncing between different fanfic projects--Inventor’s Absolution, Lover’s Lament, and So Human. I cycle between those three and write for whichever one I feel like in that moment, but as So Human isn’t anywhere near as popular as IA or LL, I’ll post a blurb from LL’s Chapter 5 for y’all to enjoy <3
I put my writing under the cut, as LL is a smut fic and there’s a little bitty hint of it mentioned LOL just wanna be safe and respectful for those who don’t care to see it :p
otherwise, I tag anyone who’d like to participate in this little exercise! It’s super fun to share and read other people’s work, so if you do decide to participate, please absolutely feel free to tag me so I can read it!
“You gunna come back down to earth anytime soon, man?”
Paul’s voice imploded into Butch’s daydreaming like the sharp pop of a balloon in a pin-drop silent chamber, snapping him back into the present in a back diner booth, sitting across from said best friend with an untouched burger and fries in front of him. Paul regarded him with a suspicious gaze and a mouth full of rehydrated onion rings, chewing idly with his brows arched up to his hairline, and Butch couldn’t fucking figure out what the dope had been talking about while he was off in La-La-Land; if he had to guess, probably something about all the work he had to do downstairs now that Win was on suspension, because that was all he complained or talked about these days, so naturally Butch’s mind would wander off to other, better things.
A brief memory of the inventor’s sex-drunk expression and hazy eyes pinned to his face as she begged him to finish inside her made it back to the forefront of his mind.
Better things indeed.
It was all he’d been thinking about since he woke up, naked and drowsy on the pullout couch, cursing to whatever higher power was out there that if it had all been a dream, he’d find a way to get up to the pearly gates just to kick someone’s ass. When he reached across the bed for Winona, hoping to pull her close for a quick, sleepy morning romp, he instead found the other half of the bed empty and her clothes picked up off the floor from where they were haphazardly abandoned hours before—including her boots and Pip-Boy off the couch-side table. Butch figured she scurried off to go preen herself or whatever girly shit broads did after a night of sex because she wasn’t in her bedroom, either, leaving only a note stating she’d ‘be back later’ with a scribbled heart shape (and no he didn’t grin like a fool when he saw it, fuck you very much); and if it wasn’t for Paul pinging his Pip-Boy about grabbing lunch, he knew he would’ve stuck around for her to get back… and he couldn’t tell if it was because he still hoped for that quickie, or because he just wanted to see her.
Not even Dolly had me whipped this bad, he grumbled internally as he finally picked up his cold burger and took a generous bite, and she was a God damn ball-buster.
Hey y’all! If you haven’t already gotten your notifications, Inventor’s Absolution has just updated both on FF.net and AO3.org! I decided when IA hit 5600 views on AO3, I’d post the next chapter since I was lucky to have finished ahead of time for publishing--I hope y’all enjoy, and think about leaving your thoughts in the form of a review!
AO3 link for Inventor’s Absolution
FF.net link for Inventor’s Absolution
It still blows me away the views and comments and readers I’ve gotten over the years since I reposted my old crappy fic LOL it blows my mind that come October it’ll officially be 3 years since I first published the rewrite that is Inventor’s Absolution, and I don’t think I would’ve come as far as I have if it wasn’t for all of you--so thank you!!
Happy reading, happy writing!
Happy 2 Year Anniversary to Accepting Anxiety/Virgil (and the survival of Patton) to all my Sanders Sides friends! (if you’re out there please be friends with me :,) I beg)
HAPPY 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO ACCEPTING ANXIETY, VIRGIL, PATTON’S SURVIVAL, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, thank you to Thomas himself, Joan, Talyn, Valerie, Terrance, and everyone else who’s ever had a hand in the creativity, writing, editing, production, imagination, and pure passion that’s gone into Sanders Sides. Thank you for providing a platform to talk about all the issues you’ve covered over the course of the series in an entertaining and positive yet thought provoking and transparent manner.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you!!
call me a liar twice over because it isn’t Sunday and this tid bit isn’t six sentences LMAO
so I was tagged by the ever lovely @hellektr0 (also known as er0sennin) to participate in this and thought it’d be fun!! Sorry for the late reply (two days late) I was working and didn’t know what to post :c I finally made up my mind and thought I’d share the intro of the latest chapter I’ve worked on for my Fallout 3 fic Inventor’s Absolution--this would be chapter 47, a Butch centered chapter.
Enjoy!
“Amata?”
The name echoed off the walls of the vault hallway when Butch DeLoria called out, unnatural and deep when it bounced back to him in thinning volume as if it had to travel some ways to return. He couldn’t recall how he got there, or when, or why, only recognizing that when he looked down at either end, the corridor stretched on so far in both directions that any possible end disappeared into a distant haze.
He wasn’t somewhere familiar.
“Amata?” Butch cupped his hands around his mouth, calling in either direction. His own voice was the only thing that returned to him.
He wasn’t somewhere that was Vault 101… only meant to look like it.
“How’s your mother doing, by the way?”
The question seemed to come from the walls themselves, the acidic whisper so close—too close—it tightened his throat, startling him in the looming silence.
“Is she down there with the roaches like the rest of you,” The voice moved around him, shifting, slithering, twisting shape like a forbidden shadow trying to find somewhere to hide as it taunted him. “Or did you turn your back on her like you did everyone else?”
Butch grimaced back at Wally’s tone, thought of covering his ears if it actually would’ve done anything but make him look like a sorry sap, and so marched away instead to escape it and find somewhere familiar. His ex-best friend’s voice didn’t follow him, lingering only on the fringes of his hearing until it dissipated into nothing—
A phantom boot pressed down on the back of his head. His hand lingered there, feeling nothing.
Nothing but a memory, anyway.
thank you for the fun tag, it was fun! I’ll also tag @corvegaassemblyplant and @imperialistbullshit, as well as @ any of my mutuals/friends/followers on here who’d like to participate! If you do, please tag me so I can read it :3c
So because I wanted to take a little writing break from my Inventor’s Absolution fic (so I wouldn’t suffer from the burnout of writing exclusively in one universe for so long), I got somewhat invested in writing a ‘fix-it fic’ for Nancy Drew’s Midnight in Salem game because it was Terribad(TM), and then got un-invested by the time I finished the scene LMAO I don’t think I’ll ever seriously put more time into it (maybe I’ll post it on AO3 + FF.net since it’s a completed scene and to get more eyes on it), so I thought I’d just leave it here for the Clue Crew to enjoy if they so wished.
Basically I wanted a rewrite of the game in ‘novel form’ to fix dialogue, plot holes, puzzles, and other various things that I felt needed improvement in the story and plot. This starts at the beginning of the game, shortly after the Book of Apologies thief escapes, and before the opening talk between Nancy Drew and Deirdre Shannon.
Enjoy! Fic under the cut, thanks for reading (and apologies if Nancy seems a bit OOC, I tried doing a mix of ‘new Nan’ with ‘old Nan’.
Happy reading, happy writing!
Amongst the verdant firs of the Salzburg forest, our young detective, Nancy Drew, navigates her way back to Moosham Castle after a book thief apprehension gone awry. Through the crowning tops of the wavering trees where they split amongst the drear sky are the towering eaves of the historical estate—the only guide she has in returning to the castle’s footbridge. She surmised the hike back would be a strenuous one, and furthermore considered herself lucky to not have rolled her ankle, or worse, broken a leg, from the way she launched herself over the bridge’s edge as carelessly as she did.
Not a story for Ned, that’s for sure, she decided while rummaging through her shoulder bag to examine the few pieces of evidence her book thief had dropped in their escape; an expelled home-made smoke bomb; a key with an usual blade, the teeth spelling ‘AW’, left abandoned in the cage lock that the Book of Apologies was bound with; and a torn plane ticket to Boston, Massachusetts.
Which was boarding at 3:40 PM.
Tomorrow.
I’ve got to find them before they get back to the states, or else I could lose their trail! Nancy lamented as she pulled her phone from her pocket to check the time, while also seeing several missed calls from a River Heights number — proven earlier to be that of Deirdre Shannon’s. Tucking her phone away, she decided she’d respond later with a lingering thought of how odd it was that Deirdre was calling her. Repeatedly. But right now she had other things to worry about, like how she would apprehend her book thief!
The Vienna International Airport is about a 4-hour drive away. With this ticket I at least know what flight my thief will be on and what seat they’re in! I’ll have to get past airport security first... I wonder if there're any open seats left on this flight?… Nancy puzzled as she climbed up a steep hill, using the rocks protruding from the earthen ridge as makeshift foot holds for a quick return back up to the main road. Brushing dirt off her hands and clothes, she took notice of a tear clean through her pants leg—most likely snagged on a sharp rock or thorny bush while she was running.
Definitely not a story for Ned, the detective sighed to herself as her phone buzzed once more in her jacket pocket.
It was Deirdre, again.
The two hadn’t seen each other since the old town hall fire in River Heights last year, and they certainly weren’t on friendly terms once the truth and Nancy’s innocence had come to light… not that they were friendly beforehand, but reveling in Nancy’s short stint in prison certainly didn’t do their tense acquaintanceship any favors.
"Okay, Deirdre, you now have my undivided attention.” Nancy remarked once she answered the call. “What is it?”
“You know, when someone calls you in a panic and tells you not to hang up, it’s probably pretty important that you not hang up!” She snapped from the other side of the line with a huff.
“I’m sorry, but I told you I was in the middle of something. I said I’d call you back later, didn’t I?” She reasoned as she began walking the road back to the castle, lined on either side by dense trees, and examined the tear in her pants again as she walked.
“This isn’t something that can wait! I—…” All the ire in her tone died to a tense silence, in a pause so long Nancy removed her phone from her ear to check if the call dropped. The phone service out amongst the forest wasn’t the best, but her phone confirmed they hadn’t disconnected.
She put her cell back to her ear. “Deirdre? Are you still there?”
“I need your help, Drew.” Deirdre admitted quietly, her voice reluctant and almost ego-bruised, as if she were thinking better of having called the detective in the first place. “My cousin’s gotten into some trouble, and I thought I could help her, but—… but it’s a lot more complicated than what she told me over the phone. It’s worse than I thought it’d be.”
“What kind of trouble?”
"Like I said, it’s complicated.”
Gauging the distance of the road ahead, the peaking towers and the outer curtain walls of Moosham Castle cut through the trees. Nancy hadn’t realized how far she strayed until now. “Well, it looks like I just came into a bit of free time… if you’d like to talk about it?”
“I thought you said you were in the middle of something?”
“I was. I was literally chasing down a suspect when you called and got a little lost on my way back to the castle.”
“…A castle? Where in the world are you, Nancy Drew?”
“Austria, at this place called Moosham Castle. I was trying to locate an artifact for my dad on behalf of a judge friend of his, and—it was the craziest thing!— When I had my back turned, someone dressed all in black appeared out of nowhere and stole the artifact, disappeared in a puff of weird blue smoke, and jumped out the window!”
"Are you saying this guy got away? And here I thought Miss Nancy Drew always got her perp,” Deirdre said with blatant smugness in her voice.
You didn’t see them—they must’ve scaled up the outer wall somehow to come through the window… and they were quick. If they hadn’t stopped when they did to open up the book, I never would’ve caught up to them, Nancy realized glumly. Whoever this person is is crazy athletic, and they knew what they were doing. They knew that the book was here, and they had the key to get it open. This was no random robbery.
“I didn’t think anyone used the word 'perp’ anymore, Deirdre,” Nancy replied with a soft teasing, which granted her a scoff from the other end of the line. Possibly an eye roll, too. “Anyway, back to your cousin. What kind of trouble is she in?”
"Right. Well—… to make a long story short, my cousin, Mei, lives in the infamous Salem, Massachusetts. About a week ago one of Salem’s most historical mansions was nearly burnt to the ground, and now the entire town believes she was the one who caused the fire! They don’t have any evidence she did it, which is unbelievable, but any idiot can see she wouldn’t do something like that—!”
“Deir—Deirdre—Deirdre!” Nancy finally had to yell just to make herself heard over her incensed rambling. “Why would the town believe your cousin Mei would do such a thing if there’s no evidence? What evidence did they find? Did she provide a strong alibi? One that someone, or multiple people, can confirm? Are there any other suspects?”
"God, I forgot about that annoying thing you do where you ask a million questions a second,” Deirdre huffed exasperatedly. "I don’t know what evidence the police have. When I tried reaching out to them, they just laughed at me when they found out I was Mei’s cousin—like they thought it was funny I was trying to prove her innocence! Like it was so obvious Mei would do this and I just couldn’t see it! I had to leave before I gave them the smart-ass piece of my mind… it would’ve only made the situation worse for her.”
“I’m so, so sorry to hear that happened to you, Deirdre… really, I am.” Nancy offered genuinely, just as the footbridge was coming into sight, and she quickened her pace to meet it. “It sounds like your cousin is being falsely accused, or at least he police don’t seem interested in looking into other suspects.”
"Mei hasn’t been accused.” She clarified before sighing defeatedly, grumbling with a tight jaw. "…Not yet, at least, on official record… but everyone in Salem thinks she did it and we both can see where this train is heading. The only people here who see the truth are me and Mei’s older sister, my other cousin, Teegan. Nancy, Mei didn’t do this, and like I said, the situation’s really complicated… more complicated than I can explain over the phone. It’d be easier in person.”
“Are—Are you asking me to come to Salem?” Nancy inquired dubiously. She expected their exchange to be more of a mentoring; for Deirdre to ask for her advice on how to pursue the matter and that would be the end of it, so for her to imply—no, outright admit she needed Nancy to come to Salem—it became clear just how ‘complicated’ this problem really was.
And how desperate Deirdre was to save her cousin.
"You’re really going to twist my arm, aren’t you?” Deirdre groaned. "Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking, Drew. I’m not going to beg.” There was an abrupt pause. "…I might say please, though, if that’ll convince you, but you can never breathe a word of that to anyone!”
As Nancy stopped on the footbridge to lean over the railing, the open window of the north-tower marked where the thief had jumped from the ledge to a sheer drop below; it was almost too high up to jump from without breaking your neck, and the exterior walls were built with smooth stone weather-worn from the years. How could the thief otherwise get up there, let alone get back down as quick as they did without injuring themselves? Perhaps a hook and rope? Climbing tools? Pure agility, athletics, and clever leverage? Perhaps through some other tools or means unknown to her? It seemed clean, professional, planned, and most importantly, puzzling.
“Do you know how far the Boston International airport is from Salem?” Nancy inquired while digging into her shoulder bag to produce the thief’s torn plane ticket, upon remembering it’s destination out. The detective wondered, was it merely coincidence that the Book of Apologies was stolen in the same week a fire vandalized a Salem landmark? Since Moosham Castle and the book itself both had a connection to the witch trials, it couldn’t be completely improbable that there was some deeper relation between the pieces, and her thief’s flight out to Boston only solidified her gut instinct.
“Boston Logan? Uh—it’s like an hour drive from Salem, I guess?” Deirdre said quizzically. “Does that mean you’re coming?”
“I’m definitely coming. In my book thief’s escape, they left behind a torn plane ticket. They were going to the Boston International Airport. The destruction of a Salem monument, the theft of an important artifact involving the witch trials, and the thief’s flight coming into Boston can’t be coincidence. I don’t know if my thief will be in Salem, but I’d bet they’re still linked to the town somehow.”
“That sounds pretty far-fetched, if you ask me.”
“I guess I’ll find out when I get to Salem. I’m going to see about taking an afternoon flight out of Austria tomorrow—think you can hang tight until I get there?”
“As if I have a choice,” Deirdre bit sardonically, before a softened sigh allowed her to continue in a kinder tone. “I’ll pick you up from the airport. Just text me your flight details, and try not to get in at, like, 2 in the morning or something. I’m not afraid to leave you at the mercy of a taxi driver.”
“I hear you. We’ll figure this out, Deirdre… I promise.” Nancy declared, and despite the silence from the other end, she knew Deirdre was still there—listening and careful.
“…Thanks,” She replied, before quickly hanging up as if it would hopefully diminish the tender gratitude in her reply.
About a week ago I received a nice comment on Inventor’s Absolution by a reader who told me she made fanart of my main character, Winona Parker!! ;A; it always floors me when someone loves the story and characters enough to create something for it/from it, and with her permission, I wanted to post the fanart she made here on tumblr as well as link to her instagram for anyone interested in checking out the rest of her work!
j4d33_art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j4d33_art/
I thought her art style was really cute, and I loved how she did Winona’s eyes :3c
Thank you SO MUCH to her for the fanart and for taking the time to read Inventor’s Absolution--and thank you as well to everyone’s support, comments, likes, and messages about the story as well! I never thought I’d have very many people interested in Winona’s story, and you guys make me want to work even harder to bring out her story. Fanfiction or not, Winona is a very dear character to me--while I see some of myself in her, I also see in her as person I hope to be and can be one day.
Thank you and have a lovely day! <3
Hey! I'm that anon that said I'd be here to 'eat that shit up' whenever you got around to posting, and I did in fact eat, and it was amazing :D
welcome back, mysterious stranger!!
Thank you so much for your encouragement and for coming back to read the latest chapter ;A; I super appreciate it, and I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it!! Fun things are still in store for Vault 101 as well as Winona~
Let's go one for each, if you don't mind! :D 🍔 for Harriet, 🎹 for Glasgow, 📝 for Sumner (he seems like the type lol), 🛒 for Dolly, and 🎒 for Winnie!
🍔 Favorite food - Harriet
Harriet is a meat eater through and through--nothing beats a fat, juicy brahmin steak and a bottle of gin because yes alcohol should be considered one of the essential food groups. she’s a lady of simple tastes LOL
🎹 What’s their favorite song and/or radio station? - Glasgow
Considering the only two radio stations in-game are the Enclave station and Three Dog’s the only one who actually played music, I don’t think our resident raider was a huge fan of the disc jockey... x,D it’s hard to say what would’ve been a ‘favorite’ song of his solely because a lot of what we hear on the radio in-game would definitely get on his nerves, but I like to imagine that back where he’s from (Louisiana, close to the border of Arkansas) he would’ve heard various radio stations playing Johnny Cash and Swamp Blues because of their rock’n’roll tones. It’s more his speed than the flowery orchestra of ‘A Wonderful Guy’ that’d send him absolutely rabid at the first note LOL
🎒 What are ten things they always have in their bag? - Winona
In no particular order!
1- Combat knife
2- Wet wipes (for quick baths when they’re out on the road)
3- batteries for her inventions!
4- Widget :3
5- Her tools
6- A mini sewing kit that fits into a mentats container for easy travel
7- a roll of duct tape because duct tape fixes all
8- after Sumner’s opened her eyes to spices, she’d carry around small containers of salt, pepper, and something spicy to kick up her food because she’s still a vaultie at heart
9- rope because you can always use some good rope
10- HOMEMADE SMOKE BOMBS BABE-YYYY
Winona would definitely have a mix of ‘essentials’ and ‘non-essentials but want these things with me’ in her pack. Batteries and tools may not be wholly necessary but to her mind it’s a ‘you never know’ situation (or that’s her argument anyway haha)
📝 Do they keep any journals or records of their travels/events in their life? - Sumner
I definitely agree that Sumner did at one point because as hardened as he is, deep down he’s still a sentimental old man LOL but I think as years went by he stopped putting his thoughts to paper just because he’s extremely nomadic, and so much has happened in his life in the day-to-day that he’d probably be toting around journals upon journals with him in his pack that could take up room for more essential things. However I do see him picking it back up again when he officially retires from the Talon Company! Mainly to find something else to occupy his days.
🛒 Do they collect anything? - Dolly
Anything in the way of Pre-War femininity! Make up, jewelry, beauty mags, and pre-war outfits (even if she never gets to wear them because Vault dress code and whatever)! For obvious reasons, make up is in short supply in Vault 101 and doesn’t preserve very well so I’m sure Dolly has a lot of make up she found scrounged up around the vault or shops, or even made at home (reminds me to look up any 50′s recipes for home made makeup, if there are any out there)... jewelry to show off some sense of identity given 101′ers can’t do much in the way of the fashion department. She adores Pre-War garments and beauty ‘rag mags’ for the much of the same reason as well, in idolizing an era that she’s sad she never got to be apart of.
Thanks for the questions~! :D These were fun to answer and think about for sure!
I’m sure one of these has been made before but there’s no harm in another!
✅ What are their tag skills?
✨ What are their S.P.E.C.I.A.Ls?
😇 What’s their karma status?
🔫 Favorite weapon?
😎 Favorite article of clothing or accessory?
🍔 Favorite food?
💛 Do they have a companion they always bring along?
🌹 Do they have a romantic interest?
💙 Do they have any family? What are they like? Are they close?
🎒 What are ten things they always have in their bag?
🛒 Do they collect anything?
🏠 Do they have a home base? What is it like? How much time do they spend there?
🎹 What’s their favorite song and/or radio station?
💉 Have they ever been addicted to anything?
🌟 What is the main quest that impacted them the most?
⭐ What is the side quest that impacted them the most?
📝 Do they keep any journals or records of their travels/events in their life?
🤝 Are they a member of any factions?
⚙ What is their opinion of the Brotherhood of Steel?
🦅 What is their opinion of the Enclave?
🐻 What is their opinion of the NCR?
🐂 What is their opinion of Caesar’s Legion?
🌐 What is their opinion of [other faction]?
🧟♂️ What is their opinion on ghouls/super mutants/other mutants?
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