Fallout Penis Skin

Been definitely ignoring this au since the start of 2026 (also swapout, barely clinging to life support in my drafts), but since I was asked about it and i've still got these notes laying around I may as well post 'em and explain my thought process

Paladin Danse:

-Danse has always been a tricky character for me to play with because he has both a lot of potential but a very fixed image that I feel persists through all depictions of him first and foremost. So in regards to initial first meetings he's not that different from his canon self: a little more stern and quick to shut people down, but still has that army discipline and command that keeps him from being expressive on a personal level.

-Now, the key difference in fellout vs fallout is the defining moment of each companions characterizations; preston and quincy, hancock and his discovery of john hancocks clothes, codsworth and santucary, etc. For danse, while there is some more to expound on and change with his history with cutler, it is more of what happens after he discovers he's a synth that causes a major shift in his outlook and behavior.

-He doesn't take the news well, partially identity crisis/partially conflicts with his own biased (and conditioned) beliefs. But rather than fall into suicidal depression, he clings on to the need to act against injustice/wrongness and gives full into anger. Just like how cutlers death ignited an intense hatred towards mutants, being turned on by the brotherhood made him resent them to an unhealthy, radical degree.

-During this period he becomes withdrawn and distant, seemingly acting as someone who just needs to be given space to emotionally process the who ordeal. But he's not processing it at all. He's turning his anger into something productive, something that will both strike back against those who wronged him and "make things better for everyone."

-He's going to blow up the prydwyn.

Deacon:

-Given Deacon's (maybe true maybe not) backstory about his time with the UP Deathclaws, and later his actions against him, i've always held this personal headcanon that Deacon has a lot of anger that he has learned how to repress or curb by this point in his life. Of course, that's not to say he's a mean, violent person, but rather his characterization as goofy, funny, not serious, etc is just a very well-crafted persona designed to make people lower their guard around him. yes, this includes other members of the railroad.

-Fellout Deacon differs in methodology and self-reflection. Rather than try to better himself and make up for mistakes after Barbara, Deacon chose to permanently stay in that vindictive mindset. In this sense, he's actually more true to himself and others than his canon counterpart, and that is accentuated by how he lies to people.

-Rather than making up stories Fell Deacon mostly sticks to half-truths and omissions, often in the form of "brutal honesty" towards the rest of the railroad (ie; hammering down on people's flaws rather than praise their accomplishments, aggressively playing devil's advocate to force them to think things over more carefully, discouraging companionship and attachment to ease the inevitable losses they'll face, etc.) This gives him the image of a very jaded, cynical person (which is half-true) that only acts out of duty rather than compassion, a curiosity considering the fact that he willingly joined on and has since chosen to stay. If you ask him, he says he just "tells it like it is." Sometimes it mean to be kind. Sometimes its kind to be mean.

-He often encourages the railroad to utilize more aggressive tactics, including hostile takeovers of caravans, torturing prisoners, attacks on settlements, among other things. Thus far, circumstances have forced the railroad to meet him halfway on some of his suggestions. This has caused some odd mixed reactions from him.

-He believes in necessary evil only because of the inevitability of moral tragedy. He doesn't necessarily WANT things to be this way, but they ARE and it CAN'T be any other way. Otherwise they and all the synths they're trying to rescue are going to die.

havent had much time (energy) to develop these two as much, even though in terms of story progression Piper is due to appear much sooner than any other companion. She has a tiiiiiny bit more in terms of characterization, but its all loose and conceptual.

Piper:

Its obvious that the cataclysmic defining moment of her character was the death of her father, it being her introduction to the concept of journalism as well as the idea of pursing the truth no matter the cost. While in canon Piper was successful in stirring up enough controversial attention to catch the culprit, the fellout version of piper would have been unsuccessful, drawing attention and anger only to herself, with the settlement becoming destroyed in the process.

In terms of transitional storytelling I;m not sure how much I want to inflict on piper specifically, knowing how dark the world of fallout already is in canon, but I can say that between her hometown and the subsequent events that would follow, her veracious beliefs would never have had a chance to flourish. Instead, she would have had to learn to get by on whatever underhanded tactics would work, with heavy focus on lying, manipulation, blackmail, and information retrieval. Knowledge is power, after all, you just have to learn how to apply it.

In the current day, Piper is still a resident of Diamond City, finally having custody of Nat after having been seperated for a while following the destruction of their home settlement.

This is where her character starts to split with me, on the one hand I can lean into the shadiness of her actions and write/design her in the typical grundgy underground look in mind, always living in darkness and filth, standing just out of sight and always listening, always buying and selling information, no matter the price. On the other, I noticed that a lot of characters in his au where designed (unintentioally, somewhat) with cleaner, more extravagant styles that reflect the luxueries and wealth they pursued after abandoning their morals. I could do the same with piper, possibly having her live in the upper stands as a pseudo-celebrity, maybe writing a gossip magazine instead of a newspaper while doing everything she can to give nat a comfortable life.

Either way, she does it for nat, and she works closely with Valentine, though the relationship between them is hard to describe at the moment.

Maccready:

Maccready I have next to nothing for other than he is actively hunting Nora during the initial story, having been paid by someone to gather information from before eliminating.

In this timeline Maccready struggled to leave the gunners, perhaps not being able to leave it at all. I've batted around with the idea of him either being forced to stay with the gunners or expelled (both following some pretty severe punishment). The contract would have either been given to him by a superior as a typical case, or possibly taken out of desperation if he HAD managed to get away from them.

I love him madly

Falloutober day 8 - Rattle