I’ve been accused at times of being cruel and unusual in the fates I inflict upon the characters in this Weird New West of
Zombie Ranch, and not without cause. But oh, I’m still working the bunny slopes in comparison to stuff like
Game of Thrones, right?
Or for that matter, I recently finished the main story of
Fallout 4 — and it is gut-wrenching. The scuttlebutt I always heard was that the story was weak or poorly done, and perhaps that’s true insofar as it’s easy to lose track of your quest for your kidnapped son in favor of building and tweaking settlements or any number of umpteen other options available to you. This is the curse of the open world game, I suppose, where pacing and motivations can die an unmourned death unless you deliberately keep a laser focus on the primary quest line. Even then, though, refusing to get sidetracked by side content could end up leaving you woefully unprepared and unable to progress just because everything’s hitting you too hard. The proverbial
Beef Gate. In fact I believe some games–maybe even including
Fallout 4–go so far as to put missions into the main line where the goal is just “Reach Level 30.” I’m not 100% sure it was Fallout that did it since I had left off any kind of real progression for several months and so if that happened it was at least several months ago.
But anyhow–whoof–I finally got on to what I suppose would be Act 3 of the game’s arc and it’s pretty devastating if you’re the kind of person who likes to buddy up to various factions. I will refrain from spoilers since it’s more than possible there are other Johnny-come-latelies like Yours Truly who either haven’t started the game yet or possibly have just had it on the back burner while life or other games took priority. Let’s just say that
Fallout 4 is a Post-Apocalypse game that no matter what route you choose will end in a more-or-less appropriately apocalyptic fashion, with nothing that could truly be called a “clean” victory. You may feel a bit cheated at times, like the game is forcing you down certain paths with no option but desolation, but I can’t deny that such darkness fits the genre.
On the plus side, if anyone remembers that
I had declared I made a FalloutRosa as my player character… I revisited her looks and, after much tweaking, morphed it to something that isn’t perfect but I’m fairly happy with. Dawn agreed that it at least has something of a proper Latina visage, which feels good after all my blogs of the past few weeks on the subject of character appearance.
Just for kicks, here’s a side-by-side of
Fallout 4‘s default female look and my Rosa Mark II:

Not too shabby for a non-artist, right?
Okay if I’m wrong don’t say it. It worked well enough to let my brain imagine the rest.
10 thoughts on “540 – Trick Hello”
Scarsdale
Called it, she figured he’d do this, if by choice or by zombie voodoo. I’m sure the “friendlier” questioning will start soon, if she doesn’t just kill him out-right. Or just add him to the herd.
Crazyman
Gotcha!
Zombatar
This turn of events is a surprise only to Eustace. And, maybe, Eustace’s subconscious. After all, this way he doesn’t have to actually risk actually attacking Suzie, which gives him a greater chance of survival than actually attacking her. I wonder what he was promised/threatened with?
ConcordBob
Not to nit-pick, but since sights are on target, finger should be on the trigger. Especially this close.
The usual rule is “keep finger straight and off trigger until sights are on target”.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
Not to nit-pick, but since that was current philosophies regarding trigger discipline have evolved.
Of course, it will depend on who you get/got your training from.
Experiments have determined that the fraction of a second to go from finger off the trigger to finger firing when appropriate is insignificant, and the risk of firing unintended is greatly reduced.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
I did the google thing and I believe I saw how you reached this conclusion … but there are two parts to it – One should not omit the second part.
“Trigger Finger Discipline: · The practice of keeping your finger “off the trigger” until your sights are on target AND YOU ARE READY TO DISCHARGE THE FIREARM.” (Caps are my own)
Crazyman
She wants him alive so she can question him; otherwise, he’d already be dead.
ConcordBob
Good discussion on trigger discipline!
His skin is very pale / gray. Is this malnourishment, or has he been poisoned with a mind-control drug? I would have to go back and look a t all various of skin tone.
TKG
On a prior page we discussed what he’s likely got running in his system. I suggested that it’s probably Borrochero (Brugmansia arbora) which is already used by Colombian cartels to eradicate the free will of their victims.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
Now can we satisfy my curiosity? Colt, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, or other timeline variant?