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12 thoughts on “540 – Trick Hello”

  1. 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.

  2. Crazyman

    Gotcha! 😉

  3. 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?

  4. 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”.

  5. 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.

  6. 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)

  7. Crazyman

    She wants him alive so she can question him; otherwise, he’d already be dead. 💀

  8. 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.

    1. 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.

  9. ConcordBob

    Oh, the gray is just the dim light. Here is McCarthy eating dinner, and has the typical white dude flesh tone.
    https://www.zombieranchcomic.com/comic/531-inquisitional-etiquette/

    1. Dawn

      Yeah, I was trying to show that it was dark. But went with the old Hollywood method of adding a blue grey tint over everything.

  10. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    Now can we satisfy my curiosity? Colt, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, or other timeline variant?

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540 – Trick Hello
Posted on February 26, 2025 by Dawn

Suzie hearkening back to the last time Eustace was faked out. She probably regrets not being able to sneak the Lawn Ranger into the bedcovers to be the victim of the stabbing.

And with that, it's Episode 23 time! Welcome back to the Ranch, everyone!

Radio waiving

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Clint
So, have you ever considered the phenomenon of phone usage in movies and tv shows? Notice how they rarely say “goodbye?” If not, here’s a handy video reference for you:  
  Crazy rude when you think about it, right? But it’s a form of conservation of detail, i.e. we the audience don’t need to experience every little bit of the conversation as if it were happening in reality. We tend not to even really notice, and it saves a lot of time getting rid of all those “hellos” and “how are yous” and (most importantly) “goodbyes.” Conservation of conversation, if you want to make a nice tongue twister out of it. My characters do not speak on walkie-talkies correctly. Oh, I made a stab at it way back when. Because radio communication of this kind isn’t full duplex–which is a fancy way of saying that when I’m holding down the button to talk to you, you can’t also be talking to me–the protocols are such that you want to be sure you say “over” to let the other person know you’re finished talking and ready for their response. When you’re completely done with the conversation, you’re “out.” “Over and out” is actually derided as an unnecessary redundancy. As you can see if you clicked the link to the old comic, I made an oops on that. My cover story is that Suzie was just putting on a show for the cameras, and also these folks by and large aren’t ex-military (that we know of, except, perhaps ironically, the rather undisciplined Uncle Chuck). Shortly after that, I decided I’d take a page from the phone situation above and just let the realism slacken in favor of saving space, time, and flow of conversation. They talk on their radios the way we might talk on phones, with the occasional “copy” or “out” sprinkled in for flavoring. Realistic? Heck no. But this is one of those situations in fiction where I think the trade-off between realism and efficiency is worth it. So whether you’ve noticed or not, there you have it: my radio waiver.