Nice nice

Nice good

Well I finally finished reading both this story and your Fallout 2 novelization.
I'm not sure exactly what you say in the final thoughts about the difference in tone between Travels of the Chosen One and From the Underground really hit the big thing I had an issue with TotCO.
I don't wish to dwell too much on TotCO too much, but basically I was on a hunt for some Fallout Novelizations - good long ones so I have something to listen to while at work or on my days off when I didn't feel like marathoning shows or YT vids as I game.
I had read/listened to deathhamsters's Fallout 1 Novelization and loved it. Your Fallout 2 Novelization was the only one I could find. I think the story was well written - as was this story. But my biggest issue with TotCO was that it felt more like a soap opera or a high school drama between the characters than focusing on the locations and major story, and I just couldn't for the life of me like ANYONE except for the original Fallout 2 companions who joined - especially John Cassidy (who, I don't know if you knew was the father of Rose of Sharon Cassidy AKA; Cass from New Vegas) who either left or died. Add in all the character deaths - only really 2 characters who ended up surviving the whole thing. It just wasn't a pleasant read for me personally. It was well written and you do have my respect for writing a fanfic longer than many famous novels! Still I can't see myself revisiting that adventure again like I probably will with this story.

Lysanna... just... let's just say Matthew's opinions of her perfectly matched my own. Didn't deserve to be the leader, often had the others in her party do all the work, she often was the source of all the character drama amongst the group with how selfish she was, and she never really matured till the last third of the story (not counting the "New Arroyo Murders Arc" as I call it) when she was forced to deal with her character flaws while dealing with the Enclave Military where only then did I begin to care about her character arc since it was only then that it began to actually go anywhere. Phyllis actually made a better Main Character than her in that story since as soon as she joins, she goes through a lot of trials and learned from mistakes and often was trying to clean up the drama between the others.

I dunno if it was just my tastes, but En was a much more likable and relate able main character than Lysanna. Also could be I'm a big nerd too, so En being a total mechanical geek and her endless well of sarcastic quips at EVERYONE made her a joy. I did feel rather apprehensive about having a minor being the protagonist of a 18 Video Game that is a part of a franchise famous for its really dark and sometimes disturbingly real themes. But I like how well you handled that part of her character. The way En handled situations thrown at her - both external from the group and internal felt much more realistic. She'd start a lot of fires of drama due to her sass and immature nature but would in time have to own up to her mistakes, and sometimes would have to use her role as the main character and leader to deal with the problems of others.
I'm glad the character deaths were kept to a minimum for the most part, only 2 deaths out of the main cast (5 if you also count Garland and his crew) in comparison to the previous story.
Garlson was an interesting element to the story. He felt like he was the actual character player who played out events that dealt with missions and quests that we would already be familiar with if we had played the game. But I like how was more painted to be a sort of anti-hero or downright villain with how he'd manipulate En, her group and his own friends.
That said, I didn't care for some of the character changes - the big ones being to Cass and Mr. House. House didn't feel like the cold chess player who in his mind was 20 steps ahead of everyone else. He felt more like a... Mafia Boss. He felt more reactionary to things that happened than a genius strategist. Maybe he was portrayed this way since the story was being written from En's perspective who from the start had a bad opinion of House.
Cass... oh boy. I know the BULK of her character story you kept "off camera" much like with the rest of Garland and his group. But I thought the rest of Garland's group was kept in character. Maybe Gannon was a bit nicer and less sarcastic than in the game, but he still felt in character. Boone while pretty much in the background, he remained in character. Veronica was on point. The bit with Raul playing Black Jack was fun even though it was disappointing to not have him tagging along even though he'd probably complain the whole time since he's an old fart lol. But back to Cass; from what I recall of her character she was definitely leaning more into being into women than men. (That was ironically the thing with all the companions; either they were gay or not interested at all in romance due to past traumas, or in Veronica's case; both) I just kinda felt her obsession with being in love with Garland - while totally relatable for me personally since I have been in her shoes twice - I felt was just kinda there for the sake of having this drama about Garland being a complete fuckboi. And it felt like that's all there was to her character. She was the most vocal companion to talk about the politics between the NCR and Legion and House since she's a businesswomen, and the policies of the 3 major powers affected her job. All those times she'd get into fights with En and others felt on point and in character since Cass IS an angry drunk. But I just felt the "love triangle" between Cass, Garland and anything else with a vagina was too out of her character.
Only other issue with Garland and his crew was that I felt it limited what En and her group could do in terms of "Quests" since he was the one handling a lot of the other more notable quests in the game. En and her gang had plenty to do up till they got their rooms at the 38, but once that happened they were mostly at Vegas dealing with their own problems. Just would have been nice to see En deal with The Kings, or more with the NCR, maybe wander one of the vaults like Vault 11 or 22. But realistically I can see why this might have been chosen to avoid since the story was already really long by the time they got Freeside. So while the latter portion of the game where the player must choose whether to side with House, YesMan, The NCR or The Legion makes up a good portion of the game, I can see why it was best to limit things.

Okay now despite all my criticisms, I really did enjoy this Novelization. It made me laugh, and despite needing to take lengthy breaks from this story since I was very... apprehensive with what you might do considering I didn't have a very pleasant time with your previous Fallout 2 Novelization, the characters and how they were written and how they reacted to the events they DID partake in or witness were fun and gripping from the start and all the way to the end. I'm really glad En got the happy ending she deserved by going home, getting help with the trauma and getting to have Sunny and Ringo in New Arroyo to keep her company and be her real friends since Allison was... a bitch.

God damn this was a wonderful story. I love this. Thank you for the opportunity to read this amazing fic!

Okay wait first no EDE and now no Cass what is going on?

Oh man, you've done it again. I spent every spare moment I could reading this, it's just awesome. It's really evolved from the Chosen One, everyone feels a lot more realistic in their behavior and attitudes. I love your way of including minor npcs as bigger story centric characters. Meyers was a joy to read about, a real cowboy and upstanding dude. I'm sorry to see these characters go but it was a damn fine story. Also the battle of the dam, epic, so, so, epic. I look forward to more of your work.

That was a very well done story. Extremely depressing, and I wish so many people hadn't died and/or got terribly depressing endings (Arcade lived his last two years in plotting hate, that sucks, poor dude, and Cass... just, Cass), and I wish the battle hadn't been so horrifying and that there'd been a bit more satisfaction at the end other than "En goes home, and nothing is terribly remarkable, and she hasn't really truly learned not to be as bratty but she has matured a bit and she mostly manages"... but I know your goal was to be realistic and get more emotion and relatability across, which is why I say you did well. I hope it doesn't offend you if I will certainly not be reading the Chosen One story with the tidbits I've heard here about it-death and despair and she dies in a boiler and then gets trapped in purgatory... yeah, no thanks. Much too sad for me, I want to feel enriched by a story not existentially wounded... but I don't regret reading this and, once again, you did a very good job. So be proud!

My god. I have done nothing this past week but read this. I have ignored school, dragged out my breaks at work and gone to sleep at 5 am because I could not put this down. This story is one of only two stories on this site that have really touched me(in a platonic way) with their combination of character development, death, insecurities, camaraderie, believable personalities, story and the length to get me really invested in it.

A part of me desperately wants this story to continue, but I know that would only drag it out unnecessarily. I never cried, but damn it if her(not gonna spoil it with a name, you know who) death didn't bring tears to my eyes. I so wanted her to have a happy ending and I sorely missed her in the end credits. I laughed many a time, the jokes getting to me simply because of how bad they were.

Ultimately this story has been an adventure for me. I read it all over a week's time and I wish I hadn't. I wish I could have been only just getting out of Goodsprings now and the whole story ahead of me. Been a fantastic read. I think I will read Travels of the Chosen One once I've gotten over the fact that this is over, even though the end has been sorta spoiled. I'm going to take a gander and say that TotCO will be about the statue girl. Looking forward to reading about my favorite character's unobtainable love interest.

Treat yourself to a good meal and a nights sleep now. I'll be Slakingoff.

Oh. My. Fucking. God. I could not stop reading this. I fucking laughed and cried and I've never encountered such a realistic OC and such character development for that many, well, characters!

This was my first FO fanfic I've encountered. I think any other I read will be hard-pressed to meet my standards, thanks to you! :P

I adore Ringo in this chapter :3

I adore Ringo in this chapter :3

This is the most amazing story I've ever written, I read your previous fallout 2 one, and they're both amazing. I hope to see you write something like this again.

Now, I have been around here for a long time- and it isn't common that I bother to review. Don't take that as some backhanded compliment! I really did love reading this story, and I felt the need to thank you for the hard work, time, and spirit that went into it. May that spark of imagination grow ever brighter, regardless of circumstance.

I'm going to miss her as well. Miss them all, really. Cliff, Sunny, Ringo, Doc Mitchell, Roni, Garland, Cass, Leza, Arcade. Mel and En. Farewell.

God, fucking Garland. I'm crying like a baby. This story is downright amazing.