#Reaper make a click map

[rosenfey]

🌷💀 okay. reaper is so much fun to play I don't even care. spin to win scythe go brr makes my brain chemicals happy 💀🌷

[thatrandyalexfroma03]

Tommy x Zach

After that episode I needed a distraction, so I created Zach causing more problems for Tommy:

Sunday night shifts were a rough reality of being a first responder. The kind of shift that whispered, you chose this life, dumbass.

When you became a pilot you get a number of jumpsuits, two were in the wash, one was at Harbor, Buck had attacked one and it was no longer suitable for public settings (long story, do not ask), so Tommy was trying to locate his one clean jumpsuit, the elusive beast that it was turning out to be, when his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and frowned at the name.

He answered with a touch of suspicion, “Cap’? You miss me that badly? I’m only a few hours out, try not to pine.”

The voice on the other end was not amused. “Kinard, I’m telling you this out of respect: talk to your probie before he loses his damn job.”

“My probie?” Tommy asked, “He’s not my probie, he’s Harbour’s probie, and if anything, he’s your…”

“Kinard…” The tone was a warning.

“Sorry Cap’, what’s the problem.”

“Called in sick again. Second shift in a row. Only this time, the genius had his friend call it in. From a house party. I could hear the DJ. If he’s not on deck by shift start, he’s toast.”

“Right,” Tommy muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And this is my problem because…?”

The captain hung up.

So now here he was. ****

Climbing the stairs to apartment 404, because of course, the lift was broken. Think Big Bang Theory without the smart people.

His knee clicked, and he muttered something deeply unkind about gravity. This was why he was the pilot and Buck was the firefighter who charged into buildings. 

He could already hear the so called music, some unholy mashup of bass drops and techno beats as he finally reached the landing, he took a second to mourn whatever was left of his hearing and his self respect.

Did he care this much Zach he mused to himself, if Zach lost his job was that his problem?

Whatever. He'd knock, talk to the idiot and leave.

He made his way down the hallway, the light above him flickering, just like his patience.

He knocked.

Two shirtless, stupid looking dudes in their mid twenties smirked at him. One had glitter on his nipples. The other had aviators. Indoors. At night.

“Did anyone order pizza?” the glitter-nippled one asked, grinning like he thought he was original.

Tommy didn’t blink. “No.”

The guy took a swig from a Solo cup. “Well, you’re definitely not my kind of stripper, sweetheart.” He moved to shut the door.

Tommy stepped forward, placing his hand flat on the door like the grim reaper of discipline. “Where’s Zach?”

“Who?”

“Zach Anderson,” Tommy said “he lives here, his Snapchat story told me he’s here.” 

Because Zach had no sense, and proudly broadcast his life, including his location all over Snapchat. There on the weird little map that Snapchat had was Zach’s shirtless little cartoon person (whatever it was called).

“Search me, what exactly do you want old man?” Aviator scowled, twisting over his shoulder, clearly longing to get back to that amazing music and beer.

“Can I come in?” Tommy asked, but pushed past without waiting for an answer.

Inside was, honestly, hell.

There were lights strobing in a way that should come with a seizure warning. There was a makeshift DJ booth set up on a repurposed ironing board, with a guy who looked twelve and absolutely not sober hyping up the crowd like he was at Coachella instead of a second-floor rental with water damage in the hallway.

"Yo, Daddy in the house." He yelled into his mic and a couple of young chicks rubbed themselves up against him.

Untangling himself from drunk chicks, and a drunk dude and making his way through the house where stupid red plastic cups littered every surface. A couple was making out aggressively on the arm of the sofa. Someone had used the inside of a lampshade as an ashtray. There was a girl in the kitchen pouring vodka straight into a watermelon, and a guy doing the worm in the hallway, despite there being absolutely no room for it.

Tommy sidestepped him with the agility of someone who fights fire for a living.

He was aware, in a detached kind of way, that he was now the oldest person in the room by at least a decade. He could feel the sensory overload building: too loud, too bright, too chaotic but he forced himself to scan the crowd anyway.

Find Zach, smack him around the head, drag him to work to face the music.

Ah, it wasn't Zach but he recognized that dumb idiot with a black cap on backwards.

“Cassidy, where’s Zach?”

Cassidy turned, his pupils the size of dinner plates. “Out!” he yelled, as if the music required shouting even though they were six inches apart.

“What are you doing here, Tom-Tom?” he added, with a dopey grin.

“Tommy,” Tommy corrected flatly, barely resisting the urge to walk into the nearest wall. “When will he be back?”

“Fuck knows!” Cassidy yelled again before grabbing a nearby girl and smashing their faces together with enough force to cause dental damage. Tommy took that as a sign that the conversation was officially over.

He sighed. Deep. Bone-tired. Then pulled out his phone to check Snapchat.

Sure enough, Zach’s little Bitmoji cartoon was still tagged to this address, smiling like a smug bastard.

So Zach was here. Somewhere. Probably hiding. Probably drunk. Possibly pantsless.

Tommy steeled himself.

He opened the first bedroom door

Two people on the bed. One in a cat mask. The other wearing… Tommy didn’t even want to know. There was whipped cream involved. He shut the door. Hard.

Second room.

No sex this time. Progress. Just three guys passing around a rolled-up bill and giggling like cartoon villains. One of them gave Tommy a thumbs up. “You want in, Uncle Jesse?”

Tommy stared at him, deadpan. “Do I look like I want in?”

The guy giggled. “You look like you need it.”

Tommy closed the door. With force.

Third room.

Someone had built a pillow fort. Sweet, right? Wrong. Inside the fort: two girls aggressively making out, and a guy crying into a puppy.

“I’m fine,” the guy sobbed, clutching the bewildered dog, “she just said I have ‘distant dad’ energy.”

Tommy blinked. “Maybe don’t cry on the dog.”

Poor dog. 

The fourth room was dark, and smelt damp?

Disgusting. 

Tommy paused in the doorway. There was a lump on the bed. Motionless.

He narrowed his eyes.

Zach.

Finally. Hiding like the coward he was. Typical.

Storming in, Tommy yanked open the curtains with the aggressive grace of someone done playing Where’s Waldo: Dumbass Edition.

It might be night, but the lights of the city still filled the room.

Zach groaned from the bed, a weak, watery sound.

“Oh just wait, Zac-attack, I’m getting to you.”

Tommy didn’t have sympathy for hangovers. Not when they got in the way of  Zach’s shift, which he knew about. Young people had no respect for work. 

He reached the bed and grabbed at the blanket, only to recoil immediately.

It was soaked.

“Jesus Christ, dude,” Tommy muttered, flinging the sheet back like it had personally offended him. Which, at this point, it had.

Zach lay there, curled in on himself, wearing nothing but white boxer briefs that were clinging in a way Tommy did not want to analyze. His skin was pale, slick with sweat, and he let out a pathetic, broken whimper like someone had just kicked a puppy.

Tommy stepped back slightly as the smell hit him.

Not booze.

Sickness. Like that actual sick stench.

Something clicked in his gut. He dropped to one knee beside the bed and pressed a hand to Zach’s clammy forehead.

“Shit.”

The kid was on fire.

“Zach.” Tommy gave his cheek a light slap. “Hey. Come on. Look at me.”

Zach groaned and tried to roll away, muttering something that Tommy couldn’t make out as Tommy watched his arm twitch. 

“Li…ligh…light.” Zach actually cried, squinting and Tommy actually felt bad, grabbing a t-shirt and covering Zach’s eyes. 

Zach let out a breathless, broken laugh that turned immediately into a hacking cough. He curled in tighter, trembling all over like a fevered ball of misery.

“…I don���t feel good,” he rasped, sounding about six years old.

“I can see that.” Tommy stood up again, raking a hand down his face. “Jesus, Zach. I need to get you to the doctor.”

“Nooo…” Zach whimpered. “Don’t wanna move… T-Bone… everything… hurts…my head…please.”

Tommy paused. His jaw clenched. He didn’t do well with begging. Or crying. Or people depending on him when he hadn’t emotionally budgeted for it. But the kid looked awful.

“Alright,” he muttered. “I’m getting something cold for your head. Don’t choke while I’m gone.”

Made his way out of Zach’s stinky,damp room into the loud noisy hallway, bumping into other idiots. Stumbling past them till he made it to the bathroom, only to be met with the very loud sounds of suction.

Two people, mid-makeout, half-undressed, looked up at him, blinking like startled raccoons in a kitchen at 3am.

“Seriously?” Tommy said flatly.

The girl scrambled to adjust her top. “Excuse me, we’re busy in here.”

“I do not care,” Tommy said, stepping over a suspicious pile of clothing to the sink like a man on a mission. “I need water, not whatever you’re exchanging DNA for.”

The guy tried to hide behind the shower curtain like that would help. It didn’t. Tommy turned on the tap, yanked off one of the hand towels (possibly clean, jury’s out), and drenched it under the cold water.

The couple just… stood there. Watching. Waiting for him to leave.

Tommy turned, towel dripping in his hand, and made his way back to Zach’s room.

Tommy pressed the cold towel to Zach’s forehead, watching the younger man melt into it like it was the single kindest act anyone had ever bestowed upon him. It probably was, in Zach’s case.

Zach wasn’t just sweating. He was shaking. Uncontrollably. His limbs twitched like the muscles didn’t know what to do with themselves, and his lips had taken on a faint bluish tinge.

The light sensitivity. The fever. The confusion. The stiff neck. The way Zach kept whimpering at the slightest sound or shift in light like it was physically hurting him.

Tommy’s heart skipped. Then thudded. Then locked in.

No. No no no no. He’d seen this before. He knew this.

Meningitis.

It slammed into him like a punch to the gut.

‘For fuck sake Zach’ Tommy cursed under his breath and yanked his phone from his pocket with the kind of precision that came from knowing how fast things could go wrong.

He tapped 9-1-1 and pressed the speakerphone, already mentally calculating time-to-hospital, trying not to let the panic bleed into his voice.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Yes, hi. Firefighter Tommy Kinard. I’ve got a twenty four male, fever over 104, photophobia, disorientation, possibly altered mental status, stiff neck, heavy sweating. I need paramedics at—” he paused, checked his phone for the address he Snap-mapped earlier, “—1206 Blackridge Avenue, apartment 404. Suspected meningitis. We need transport now.”

****

Tommy wiped a fresh layer of sweat from Zach’s forehead with the now-damp towel, his phone pressed to his ear as it rang.

The Harbour Captain picked up on the first ring. “Kinard.”

“Cap.”

“You getting close? Is Zach on his way?”

Tommy exhaled, glanced down at Zach, who was barely conscious and mumbling nonsense and replied, voice low and clipped:

“No, sir. He’s not coming in.”

A beat. “Excuse me?”

Tommy leaned back against the wall, phone tucked between his shoulder and cheek as he reached for another dry corner of the towel.

“And I’m not gonna make it either.”

There was a pause on the line, heavy and tense.

“Kinard, what the hell is going on?”

“He’s sick,” Tommy said simply. “Like… real sick. Fever, photophobia, stiff neck. It’s not a hangover, it’s not a bad taco, it’s bad bad. I’ve already called it in—EMS is en route.”

“Jesus,” the Captain muttered. “You think it’s….”

“I know it is.” Tommy’s voice went flat. “It’s meningitis.”

Another pause. Then the Captain’s tone softened. “Is he okay?”

Tommy looked down at Zach, who was now gripping his wrist like it was an anchor.

“No,” he said, quietly. “But I’ve got him.”

He hung up before he could hear the Captain’s response. Then tossed the towel aside and grabbed Zach’s hand more firmly.

“You better live, kid,” he muttered. “I did not suffer through glow-stick purgatory and accidental porn scenes just for you to check out on me.”

[wyllzel]

ok so i beat dragon age: the veilguard 🐉⚡💥 here is my report 📰‼️

tl;dr: i really enjoyed it as a player with zero context for the dragon age franchise! additionally, i saw a reddit comment that said something like: "where bg3 revels in its complexity, da4 revels in its simplicity," and i am inclined to agree 👍

minor spoilers ahead! i don't go into specifics about the plot, characters, and romances—but if you're trying to avoid any info at all, do not click in!!!

alrighty so first off, some basic details about my rook:

her name is honoria "rook" ingellvar, and she's an elven member of the mourn watcher! as a warrior with the reaper specialization, she primarily relies on sword-and-shield combat, alternating between bashing enemies up close and tossing her shield from afar 🥏

i really liked playing a mourn watcher! my rook was able to offer more nuanced advice in scenes discussing death, grief, and funerary rites which was really interesting and meaningful to me personally. it's going to be hard for any other backgrounds to compete with this one for me!!

the party 👥

also, the character customization was really nice :') i tried to make my character an elfish version of myself, and honestly it was really nice to see my short (lol 🧍🏻‍♀️ height slider in the negatives HAHA) asian elf girlie running around the screen with ANOTHER asian elf girlie (bellara)!!! the kinship was nice :')

i do like that my rook has a set background and general demeanor too! she felt very much a part of the world/story and it was cool to hear NPCs acknowledge her background 😯 there was even one point where a character had a line based on my rook's lineage (elf) AND background (mourn watcher), it was crazy!!!!!

my team went heavy on necrotic damage, HAHA >:) that's what happens when your team is composed of two mourn watchers ig haha

lucanis is my morally dubious boyfriend w wings and schizophrenia and emmrich is my ethical necromancer peepaw 🥰 yay 🩷

i chose all the necrotic/necrosis-focused abilities and gears for the team; i don't know if it was "optimized" or not, but we were slicing through enemies like butter by the end (on storyteller mode, LOL)

i romanced lucanis and... man... he got me good, not going to lie, i'm somewhat possibly a bit madly in love... i've seen some ppl express disappointment with his romance (most criticism found it lacking, too minimal, etc) but i actually like that it's more of a slowburn subplot—poor dude has been through a lot and it makes sense that he's not exactly rushing to make out with Team Leader LOL

i didn't really swap around my party, so i was just listening to lucanis and emmrich's banters with one another, but they challenged one another's moralities/worldviews in interesting ways!! (they were also incredibly snobby, there were a few moments where i audibly groaned, LOL 😭✋) overall, there was definitely a lot more environmental banter in da4 than in bg3. i like that a lot and it made the team generally feel close to both my rook and to one another!

the playstyle 💥

i feel like the best comparison for this game is like... little big planet and the lego wii games LOL (i am not the world's hugest gamer so this is my point of comparison haha)

in the sense that you're unlocking and learning abilities/tools as you go (very lbp3), the "open" maps are really just corridors (lego/lbp), you're collecting treasure (lego), you're spamming buttons in combat (lego), there's a decent amount of emphasis on puzzles (lbp)... etc etc...

it's all very streamlined, from how you navigate the world to how you get gear to how you fight 🤔 so there's not as much complexity or creativity as in bg3, but i don't think that's a bad thing! i like the challenge of tactical combat and learning all the spells and when to use them (bg3), but it was nice to be able to pick up da4 and understand what i was doing within the first 20hrs HAHA (i don't think i mastered bg3 until i had 150hrs under my belt 💀)

also i like sprinting and leaping over things in my sick flowy armor and long elf hair 🩷 she is so graceful 🩷

it was also really, really nice to play and encounter ZERO bugs :'D again, i think this is a result of the game being fairly simple and straightforward, but also EA being a massive company lol

the story 📝

ok, necessary disclaimer that this is my first DA game so i don't know any of the lore!! ;;

BUT i do like that the lore was so easy to pick up! the writing team did a good job of introducing concepts, it never felt overwhelming and i didn't have to wiki/google anything to understand it 🫨

that being said, the overall plot was also very simple, LOL—two BBEGs with minions try to take over the world by corrupting it with a fantasy monstrosity, lol, where have i heard that before haha...

final remarks 🗣️

BUT the companion subplots were quite good!! the tension between tradition/past and "progress"/future (and the fact that there is such a binary! 👀) that can be found in all their stories was really interesting and i liked how many meaningful spins they were able to get out of that tension!!! i feel like there's so much to say, but i will refrain as to avoid too many spoilers haha

i will also say that the ending was a little abrupt 😅 but it was nice overall and i miss my rook already ;;

dragons are scary 😭

storyteller mode was too easy and now i need to try underdog haha 🐶

i've already started a second playthrough as a human grey warden mage >:) she will romance davrin 😁

bellara really grew on me and honestly she is literally just like me fr!!!!!

i'm really going to miss being a mourn watcher 😭

...i need to play da:o expeditiously tbh

[observeroflaplace]

D9 - Fair

Heavy greaves click against cold stone. With a long dark cloak and wide-brimmed hat, an imposing figure stalks the streets of Ishgard, warscythe in hand. Carefully, the gaunt man glances around corners and under archways, searching for his quarry.

Under most circumstances, a certain gold-clad Raen would be able to make use of her high profile appearance to escape; simply throwing on a large dark cloak and she’d suddenly stand out no more than any other onlooker, even as an Au Ra; or failing that, employing carefully visualised decoys formed by glamour magicks.

There were a few things getting in the way of those usual tricks, however. First of which was Ishgard itself; a nation-state whose once-zealous war against dragonkind rendered even the scaled Au Ra suspicious in their eyes, and certainly within their city, even in times of peace and realisation. Second was the time; while skulking in the night was hardly unheard of, blending in during the frigid Coerthan nights was impossible due to the lack of crowds, with only emaciated and desperate Brumelings, drunkards, and knights to call company. And third, this Hunter was a Reaper; a deadly assassin contracted with a fiend from the dark realm known as the void, in whose service was an avatar born from that pact. And like those born of that dark world, it hungered for aether, and could thus sense it.

Izayoi knew well that any hope of escape would require less than common magicks. She flings a stack of paper talismans, imbued with significant aether over periods of downtime, which form not only a glamoured decoy, but also formed a thin shell of aether; paper thin, but dense with aether enough to fool a voidsent for a time, perhaps, while she made her escape. With another stack of her oh-so precious reserve of talismans, she cloaks herself in an experimental spell; one with which rather than impersonating her own aetherial density and composition, she’d attempt to blend in with the ambient aether, through shifting currents of it around this layer.

While such a measure would, once again, prove useful against most, this particular assailant knew well her strengths from past foes; afterall, it was by the grudge of one such thwarted enemy that he was on the hunt tonight.

With a flourish of his warscythe, he hurls it to the decoy, hardly flinching when it disperses into paper, shredding a few, and allowing his dark pet consume the aether of the rest.

Seeing - and sending nothing, rather than give up, he calls out to his quarry.

“I don’t need to see you, you know. So why not come clean and we can have ourselves a fair fight, eh? …Else I’ll simply keep cleaving until I route you out eventually.”

Fat chance of that, Izayoi thought to herself.

Knowing that she had little time to flee to safety, Izayoi made her way to Lenoire manor; though her lack of familiarity with Ishgard’s streets - a product of the mutual disdain felt between her, most of Ishgard’s people, and its climate - resulted in far slower and less efficient progress than she’d like.

It was, of course, rational to believe that this Hunter would likewise have a poor time navigating the many stairwells and passages of Ishgard, let alone be aware of her destination. However, it seems that his employer had thought to narrow things down to two locations, as between broad aetherial slashes and cleaves, many of which Izayoi narrowly avoided by a fraction of an ilm, the Reaper took out a hand drawn map. Sighing to himself, the Hunter tosses a small magitek drone into the air, wherein it shines a thin light over the surface of the map, and takes off high, remaining stationary near Ishgard’s tallest spires.

A light shines on a small display on the Reaper’s wrist.

[Area scan complete. Map corroboration complete. Target areas acquired. Current location acquired.]

The Hunter grins, gesturing to his voidsent avatar to trace the opposite route. Between the two, Izayoi wouldn’t even be able to retreat inside.

Trapped without options, she remains still on the edge of a bridge, relying on a magical barrier to support her as a platform, though it was yet another aetherial strain on the talismans keeping her hidden. All she could do was hold her breath as the man walked past her, and not before slicing the area in front of him, to no avail.

This was quickly becoming a battle of attrition Izayoi would not be able to last. The cold would certainly wear her down, and her aetherial cloaking wouldn’t last much longer thanks to her platform stunt while remaining hidden. She thought about making a break for the main gates of the city, but then what would she do? She’d be cornered on the Steps of Faith at best, and simply perish from exhaustion in the cold of Coerthas at worst, long before morning or reaching a camp.

Luckily for Izayoi, her Hunter wasn’t about to simply let his quarry die without finding her to collect his bounty. Unfortunately for Izayoi, a Reaper without a cause is one of the most dangerously unscrupulous of foes.

“Alright then. Guess I’ll stand back and let my partner take his fill while we wait for you to crawl out. A coward like you who resorts to dirty tricks won’t mind if I make use of my advantages too, right? Afterall, all’s fair in love and war, right?”

Izayoi, hardly a moral paragon, tried desperately not to rise to this goading. While she relied on trickery, even with magic, her goal was a simple one. Overcome through wit and cunning, such that those with little else would be inspired to do the same. While her magic decoys pushed her definition, even then they were hardly direct force. Unfortunately, by limiting oneself to such desperate measures, sacrifices must be made, or so she told herself.

As the Reaper clutched a Brumeling by the collar, Izayoi watched on, trying her best not to give away her cover.

As the Reaper grinned, his voidsent avatar reaching forth to take hold of the Brumeling, she swallowed a scream, even as her aetherial cloak dissipated.

As the avatar’s jaw unhinged, to begin devouring the aether of its first victim tonight, Izayoi tried her best to remain distant, to remain hidden, to remain detached-

But of course, her best was nowhere near good enough. For if there was one sacrifice she would never abide by, it was that of the downtrodden, who could do little to defend themselves.

The Reaper laughs as his quarry springs into action right into his waiting scythe’s arc, right as his avatar began its aetheric feast.

Yet, Izayoi is spared the blade’s biting steel. She is hurled backwards at the last moment. Though calculated to evade, self preservation was an afterthought.

Her trajectory was altered, afterall, by recoil; of a lancing streak of aether, striking the voidsent avatar as it tastes the barest sliver of living aether, and is sent careening into the wall.

Izayoi lands, staggering to her feet, with a glare in her eyes, and she concentrates the remaining dregs of the aether of her talismans into a rippling vortex around her.

The Reaper looks on; frustrated, but calling his avatar to him, surrounding him in a shroud of fell power and animosity. While his eyes matched Izayoi’s glare, his mouth widens into a wicked smile.

His confidence wavers as a swirling current of light rushes towards him.

The Bounty Hunter demanded a fair fight, and to his alarm, got far more than he bargained for.

[rollisworld]

Reaper make a click map

#Reaper make a click map upgrade

#Reaper make a click map software

#Reaper make a click map zip

The most common causes of this issue are: The department adopted its own set of AI ethics principles earlier this year.Your IP address has been temporarily blocked due to a large number of HTTP requests. The Pentagon says tech from Maven has helped fight ISIS, and it created the JAIC to tap tech industry AI at greater scale. The JAIC’s experience mapping wildfires could help with more secretive missions aiming to deal, not contain, destruction. Some critics warn that humanitarian AI projects can function as a kind of ethics-washing that distract from the true priorities of corporations or governments. Google released a set of principles for AI work that would preclude such contracts but allow other defense work. Thousands of Google employees protested against the company’s role in the project, saying it could contribute to weapons development. The wildfire mission has similarities with Maven, a smaller, controversial AI project that enlisted Google and other tech companies to train algorithms to detect objects such as vehicles and buildings in drone footage.

#Reaper make a click map upgrade

The Pentagon’s urge to upgrade its AI with tech industry help has raised fears of unintended or unethical consequences. The Pentagon is trying to improve its cloud infrastructure, and one aim of the $10 billion JEDI contracted awarded to Microsoft last year is to make AI projects easier.

#Reaper make a click map zip

The unit hopes to get the AI map-making process down to under 10 minutes, but doing so will depend on loosening constraints imposed by bandwidth and the permissions required to zip drone data over the cloud. Staff from the JAIC had to initially ferry data between its home base of Washington, DC, and California on hard drives shipped or carried by hand. An AI wizard at a startup might point their command line at a cloud server to slurp down fresh training data in less than the time it takes to slam a La Croix. The wildfire missions show the potential AI has to reduce the person-power needed to make use of expensive Pentagon hardware, but also how the department’s bureaucracy can drag on such projects. No one from CalFire was available to discuss the project over the weekend the over-stretched agency began fighting a major new fire in the heart of California wine country. The project may also help the Pentagon build AI muscle that can be flexed on other missions, whether it be hurricane relief or mapping enemy movements.

#Reaper make a click map software

The software could be rolled out broadly in next year’s seemingly inevitable wildfire crisis. Results have been promising, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CalFire, used the maps to help its response to the Creek Fire, near Yosemite National Park. This year, the Pentagon is testing artificial intelligence algorithms that scan the video and automatically generate maps of the fires in minutes. Normally, National Guard analysts review that wildfire surveillance video to create maps, a process that takes as long as 6 hours. Its drones have helped map wildfires every year since 2017, thanks to special permission from the secretary of defense. But climate change has helped make crisscrossing California gathering video a new fall tradition for the 163rd Attack Wing. These MQ-9 “Reaper” drones don’t usually fly domestic-they’re on standby in case the Air Force needs them for overseas reconnaissance. And every day, high above the smoke, a military drone with a wingspan roughly 10 times that of LeBron James feeds infrared video of the flames back to March Air Reserve Base, east of Los Angeles, to help map the destruction and assist firefighters. More than 3 million acres of California have burned this year, and 18,000 firefighters are still battling 27 major wildfires across the sooty state sometimes called golden.

[erenspussy420]

Until your very end

Warning: My blog is nsfw, be aware if you click on my blog, This post however is not.

PART 1/?

Probably written as imagine series

Rating: Gen for everyone

Reader is not distinctly anyone, may lean towards feminine words as I am used to that.

Prompt: Reader is from a world, where no matter what stage of life you are, you see the Grim Reaper. Based on that Grim Reaper prank. 

.

.

In all your life, you have not once thought that crossing worlds to be a reality you face one day. Sure there are those 'true' odd cases of mysteriousness you grew up with and those tales of slips in the gaps

But not fully living in a world where magical people, fairies, mermaids and even animals who can speak back to you— to be real.

You were normal as can be. Average, and have no magic.

Nothing truly special about you- except one little thing. Something special from your world that all beings see.

Grim snores loudly in his sleep, his body round as loaf in your arms as you cradle him. The direcat, flickers his ears, the cute blue flames spark, warm as sunlight when it touches you. Before Grim's flames burned easily and marked your skin in glossy specks but now…it just loves you. His body is warm and soft as you both head home after waving good-bye to your friends. The first-years and yourself had thrown a small party together and after breaking food fights, sharing stories about their lives and about their dorm leaders– Vil and Malleus being the favorites despite varying reasons. 

To goad Sebek you even begin to join him and his one man crusade about Horton making the poor knight weep realizing he had an ally. Ace has never looked so betrayed. Of course a rallied Sebek gets louder and then Ace is loud and next thing you know a food fight starts, Epel climbing Jack like a tree– when Riddle breaks down the door and orders everyone out.

Even getting kicked out, you were laughing and waving good-bye to a bemused Trey and Cater.

You felt content.

You were so happy and alive.

Crossing by the plaza, where they had a map of the campus installed for future tourists, you pass it under the bright lamps. There was nothing extraordinary about it. Just plastic, and guides to the stadium and school grounds. Even your own little Ramshackle has its own spot. 

Perfectly normal. 

Nothing important.

Nothing except the grim reaper who trailed behind you.

Your heart hammers quickly, your arms hug Grim tightly enough he begins to yowl at you. Grim's complaints fall deaf on your ears as your body stays put, and your blood chills. The heavy thumps in your ribs make you want to vomit, but you don't. The night breeze felt like ice as sweat pours down your skin as you stare at the figure who looks back at you through the emptiness of his hood.

Grim wiggles in your arms, swiping at you to get your attention, his yowls now touching uncertainty.

"Henchman?" Grim paw hits your cheek but not once do you bat his hand away. Too focused ahead to look at him. Annoyed Grim follows your gaze and notices you're staring at the new map. Letting out a loud huff, he crawls onto your shoulder and under your chin,"Is that all! Sheesh, henchman you got me scared something bad was happening!"

Grim felt a mixture of annoyance and relief seeing you must have been dumbstruck at the sign. You find your voice.

"You don't see it?" You ask him, breathless.

"Of course I do!" You breathe in harshly thinking of course a magical direbeast—, Grim continues," Look! They finally put us on the map! That nut bird finally recognized us!"

Your heart drops. 

Of course….of course he doesn't see it. Your teeth clench enough you hear small pops in the jaws of your teeth. Helplessly thinking back to the party you had with your friends and no one has blinked at the figure behind you. 

Something you have been dreading to see for years just as everyone back home has.

Swallowing the lump of tears in your throat you pet Grim neck, the ribbon so graciously tied with his little own gem he proudly polished every day.

You taught him that.

You taught him how to polish and groom. 

Pulling Grim back into your arms you walk back down the lonely brick road."Let's have fish stew tonight." You tell him as glimpses of the figure trail behind you in the reflection of the street lamps.

"Oh!! Let's have tuna!" Grim outstretched paw touches your chin childishly," henchmen more meat! No veggies!"

"Okay no veggies, just for you," You tell him. In a second you kiss his head right between his fire ears.

"Gah! W-What was that for!" Grim said trying to sound upset but he ducks his head away, his body feeling much warmer. The flames rise giving away his embarrassment.

"Just felt like it," you tell him as you make it pass the gates of Ramshackle. It makes a heavy creaky noise as you shut it behind you, and no noise is made as you climb the stairs.

You left the lamp outside on, and looking into your reflection of the door's glass panel you see the figure right behind you. Not so close, but enough you know they are there.

"You're so weird," Grim grumbles as he snuggles into your chest.

"No, I just love you a lot." You breathe, your heart still thumping as you unlock your door, the key missing the door knob many times as you open it and go inside.

Turning to close it, the reaper is not there.

But in the reflection of the glass his scythe gleams.

[rpgchoices]

Sometimes I really want to read a short summary of what to expect from a game with a very particular description that CATER to my OWN SPECIFIC interests, so here we go.

(click here for other videogames)

what to expect from ASH OF GODS

turn based fantasy (medieval-like) rpg with a lot of dialogue a la visual novel

you play as three characters (Thorn, Hopper, Lo Pheng) who lead their three parties around the map. Basically the gameplay is divided in: turn based fights, travelling the map (unlocking random encounters), dialogue choices

You can choose difficulty at the beginning of the game, can't change it during the game. Stoy mode is available

The curse/reaping can increase the strenght of the enemies... you can change this difficulty in the game if you want

based on your choices you have different outcomes, but four main endings in total

you cannot create your own character, you will be able to select among the recruited characters (mainly divided in warriors, archers, healers/monk and three special characters)

tw for sexism, some racism and violence (see more here)

the story is unnecessarily complex... I had to play twice to understand it and I still miss some parts. Still, if it helps, after you play you can check my summary, I wrote down all the lore and story (or the quick timeline here).

in the story: the reapings is a horrible event that happened twice in the story of Terminum. These Reapers (monster like creatures) seem to awaken and drive people into madness and killing, soaking the land with blood. You play as Hopper, who is an ex-Reaper who failed to stop the reapings, as Thorn, a soldier who is trying to save his daughter, and Lo Pheng, a bodyguard who has to warn his people that the reaping is happening

You will jump from character to character during the story, and sometimes the different parties will meet

Dialogue will help you understand the story and the background of the characters

You can miss/kill characters and killing characters does have consequences for the story if these are important ones

During travelling (in the map) you can also stop at camp to have dialogues with your companions

If you increase the loyalty (=approval) of your companions they will be more likely to open up to you and talk with you and you might get extra scenes

Lo Pheng's chapters were probably the best and the least confusing

Hopper is the only one who fights alone and you cannot talk with anyone during camp

Thorn's chapters feel the most canon - in line with the story

At the end, you can choose if you want to finish the story as Lo Pheng or Thorn. The Thorn ending definitely felt more canon. Some things change between the ending.

At the end, you do not get a slide of text that tells you what happened to everyone... sadly. You find out what happens only to a couple of characters

Some characters are introduced with some info and dialogue, but then become irrelevant (ex. Flitt). And for some other characters it almost feels like they are unfinished (ex. there is some drama happening around Lo Pheng's party... but nothing is resolved)

there is a hint of romance, as in it is clear that a character (or two) has feelings for Gleda (Thorn's daughter). You can also interpret romance in Lo Pheng's story, but I did not see it

Hopper's story is fundamental to get the good ending but very confusing - so much that it makes little sense sometimes (stuff is easy to miss or misinterpret) and I had to follow a guide to make sure I did not miss the stuff I needed.

Some story stuff is unknown even to the current active developer... I tried my best to imagine what it could mean in the timeline.

I wrote the pro and con of the game here

plot? The reaping, a curse that happened twice in the history of humanity, is back. The Reapers (human-like monsters) are leading people into madness. Thorn, a retired captain, finds himself in the middle of it when he escapes one of this madness attacks and finds out that his daughter Gleda seems to have a mytserious mark. Lo Pheng, a bodyguard, also ends up finding out that the reaping started and having to leave his post to warn his people. In the meantime, an ex-Reaper who failed to stop the Reapers in the past, investigate what is different in this third reaping. gameplay? visual novel, map travelling and turn based combat. Deaths and dialogue choices can change events. characters? Thorn, Hopper and Lo Pheng are main characters, with extensive backstories and interactions with their respective parties. There are then major characters within their parties (Gleda, Hode, Reet), and other minor ones (minor characters might have a couple of interaction or even more, but then no real close up/resolution). sadness level? medium, it prob. should be high but it is not, mainly because there is so much "suffering and torture" that it feels overdone death? SPOILERS for the ending and various choices

Some main characters end up dead (ex. Rask and Amma), and you can kill some of the characters (Reet, Hode, all the companions but Gleda, I think). I also know that there is an ending where Gleda or Reed kill themselves, but I am not sure.

Also the bad ending is one of them becoming an avatar of a god, so they are technically dead.

[mrsalwayswrite]

Say You’ll Stay - Chapter 9

Fury/Band of Brothers Crossover Fic

There are a million excuses I could give as to why its taken me so long to update. So I will simply say- writer’s block. Here we are though! 

Tag List: @happyveday​ @alwaysindecemberfeels​ @saritanotserena​

Series Masterlist

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He did not know what to do. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew what he should do. But when those two options were at odds, that left him in the quandary of what to actually do. 

 Either way, Anna was in trouble and did not even know it yet. 

 "Fuck." He muttered to himself. 

 "Something to add, Sergeant Collier?"

 Don looked over to meet the stern, blue eyes of Captain Winters. "No, sir."

 The redheaded captain stared at the tank commander for a moment before continuing speaking to the other officers in HQ. "This town here is a key point for supplies for the Germans. There is a railroad next to the town that intelligence says is crucial to them. Once we get control of the town, we'll secure it until 1st Battalion can relieve us." Winters said, pointing at a spot on the map laid across the table. 

 Don glanced back out the window, watching Captain Evans walk away from the HQ building. It had been three days since they arrived in Haguenau, and Captain Evans planned on leaving in two more. 

 The dark-haired intelligence officer began speaking next. "Our sources say it's only infantry there. It seems most of the tanks have been recalled back to Germany. Either way, we expect resistance but as to how much, we aren't sure."

 "That's why we are sending the Armored Division with you. Sergeant Collier will lead the four tanks in assistance." Winters said. "They will follow behind. At this point we've been asked to minimize damage to property but I will not trade it for lives. Understand?"

 A chorus of "yes, sir" answered him. 

 "Excellent. Fox Company will lead the assault with some of Dog Company in reserve. Have your men ready, you leave at oh-six hundred tomorrow. Any questions?"

 Don tried to focus on the rest of the discussion. He was leading his platoon for fuck's sake into another fight, but his thoughts kept drifting to Captain Evans leaving and what that meant. 

 Anna would be leaving too. 

 She had been sent to stay with Captain Evans, to be a medic and translator. She was never supposed to come to Haguenau. Don was never supposed to give a fuck about her. Their brief encounters back at that field hospital were supposed to be the extent of their interactions. Yet here he was. Worried for her safety. He and his crew were leaving tomorrow for the next fight. Captain Evans would leave the next day to start pushing into Germany. 

 His mind whirled with questions. Who would protect Anna? Who would make sure she ate and slept? Who would make sure she was looking out for herself just as much as her patients? 

 Don barely heard the dismissal from Captain Winters. The shuffling of feet and low cadence of voices heading towards the door thrust him back into reality from his dark thoughts. Without a word or acknowledging the paratroopers he would be working with, he headed out of the Battalion HQ and walked towards his lodgings. His mind raced with more questions than answers.  

 He knew what he wanted to do. 

 He knew what he should do. 

 Both options made him clench his jaw and want to punch a hole in a wall. 

 He trudged back to the house, throwing open the door, uncaring of the way it slammed into the wall. Stepping towards the common room, he saw Davis, Binkowski, Grady and a few others playing cards on a short table. A few others lounged around in the sunny room. 

 "What's the news, Wardaddy?" Binkowski asked, keeping his eyes on the cards in his hand. 

 "Leaving tomorrow. Oh-six hundred. Make sure your men got their shit together."

 "You alright, Don?" 

 He had not even heard Boyd come around the corner from the kitchen. His sharp gaze landed on his gunner, who was watching him warily. "Yeah, fucking fine." He snapped; his frustration was a writhing mess of snakes in his gut. 

 Christ, he needed some peace and quiet and a cigarette. Don stormed through the common room to head up the stairs, uncaring of the confused looks around him. In his haste to leave, he accidently bumped a flimsy chair someone must have left out. It just caught him at the right angle and dug into his side, nothing painful but just enough to infuriate him even more. He had not even realized how angry he was until the chair caught him, but it was the catalyst that released the pent-up frustration. 

 With a snarl, he grabbed the back of the chair and threw it against the wall. The sounds of wood snapping and breaking filled the now silent room. Without a word, without stopping, because if one person said something to him, he would beat the fucking shit out of them, he stalked up the stairs to his shared room. 

 After throwing the door open, he kicked it shut. The solid boom of the door slammed back only made him want to do it again and again. Instead he moved to drop onto the bed, sitting on the edge and quickly lit a cigarette. He took a long drag, the smoke immediately bringing some relief to him. 

 He was surprised Norman was not in the bedroom. When he left for the meeting, Norman had been curled up in the bed sleeping still. At first, he thought Norman slept so much because he was sick. Now he was beginning to wonder if the kid absorbed sleep like a desert soaking up a rainstorm; the rarity of it making it harder to ignore and easier to overindulge. 

 It could not have been even two minutes later when the bedroom door slowly opened. Don dropped his head in one of his hands, the other still holding the cigarette. 

 "Wanna explain what that was?"

 "Not now, Boyd." Don hissed, not looking up. 

 The gunner rocked back on his heels, the floorboards creaking under the motion. "A'right. Well, I'm just gonna be right here when you ready to talk."

 He chuckled darkly. Five minutes. He could not even get five fucking minutes alone. He tried to ignore Boyd as he stared out the window. 

 "Where's Norman?" He finally asked after taking another hit of his cigarette. 

 "Gordo took 'im to the aid station to see Anna."

 "She's not coming here?"

 "Dunno."

 "Fuck." Don whispered, rubbing a hand over his face. He suddenly felt like he should be in his sixties or seventies, not just recently turned thirty. His mind played over the past three days since they arrived in Haguenau. Besides that first day of their arrival, Anna had been over every day. He knew it was mostly to check in on Norman and make sure his cold did not worsen but she usually ended up staying for some time or if someone could convince or threaten her enough, she would also catch up on some sleep. During that time he had become so used to seeing her around, it felt strange to question if she was coming back or not. In his mind, she was a part of his crew, and he was positive he was not the only one to feel that way. 

 He needed her safe. 

 That was what everything seemed to come back to for him. He cared about her safety, like he would any of his crew. Except he knew, he wanted to be the one to keep her safe. To keep her gentle smile on him. To be the one she turned to. He felt like a moth drawn to her flame. 

 He knew what he needed to do. He doubted she was going to like it. Hell, if they got caught he wondered if he would lose his rank by going behind the backs of his superiors. He had to do something though. He had to keep her safe. Well, as safe as anyone could be while at war. 

 He knew the truth though- he wanted her close….to him. 

 With a groan, he stuck the cigarette between his lips then pushed against his knees to stand up. 

 "Where you goin'?"

 "Stay here."

 Boyd stood up, blocking the door. "What's goin' on, Don?"

 He debated just pushing Boyd out of the way before shaking his head. "Captain Evans leaves in two days."

 "Uh huh. Anna mentioned somethin' about the wounded finally being moved to a field hospital today. Probably why she ain't here."

 "We leave tomorrow." Don flatly stated. 

 Boyd's eyebrows drew together. "I feel like I'm missin' somethin'."

 "Anna is supposed to go with Evans. That was why she was sent."

 He could see the light bulb go off in Boyd's mind when what Don said finally clicked. His eyes widened, a myriad of emotions flickered across his face ranging from horror to frustration and what could be despair.

 "What…." Boyd stopped, looking off to the side and taking a deep breath before turning back to his commander. "What we gonna do?"

 "I'll take care of it."

 "Don…."

 "Stay here, Boyd. Start gettin' ready to leave tomorrow. I won't be gone long." This time he did gently push Boyd out of the way and with a long look, he stalked out of the room, down the stairs and outside. 

 He made his way to the aid station, only having to jump behind a building once to avoid a mortar. This was his first time coming to the aid station in Haguenau, having had no reason prior to come. He was pleased it was in better shape than most of the other buildings and further back from the river and Nazis. 

 Soon as he stepped through, he was hit with the smell of sanitation, coffee, and dried blood. 

 "Where's the nurse?" He growled at a pair of medics who stared at him like he was the grim reaper come to take their souls. One pointed towards the back. Don stormed in that direction, boots pounding on the wood floor. 

 He arrived at what most likely had been someone's study or library prior to the war but had been converted to the aid station. His gaze zeroed in on her folding up some blankets while she chatted with a medic. He stalked towards her. She only turned her head to look up at him as he was within five feet of her. 

 "Don?" The sweet smile on her face immediately faded away as she took in the serious expression he wore. 

 "We need to talk." He stated, moving to stand beside her. 

 "Of course, let me…"

 "No. Now." He grabbed her upper arm and started to pull her from the room. The other medic started to say something but snapped his mouth shut at the icy glare Don sent him. 

 "What's going on?"

 He ignored her question, looking down at her once they were in the hallway. "Where can we speak in private?" 

 "Upstairs." 

 Once she seemed to sense his urgency, he allowed her to lead him up the stairs and into a room that seemed to be used by the medics to store their personal effects. Two cots were pushed against opposite walls, both empty thankfully. Soon as he shut the door behind them, he rounded on her. 

 "You need to hide."

 "Ex....excuse me?" She stuttered, sapphire eyes peering up at him, wide and unblinking.  

 "Captain Evans plans on leaving the day after tomorrow."

 "We heard. One of the lieutenants stopped by after the wounded were taken to inform us. Why does…"

 He cut her off. "My crew and I are being sent out. We leave tomorrow. I don't know how soon we'll be back. So, you need to hide until Captain Evans leaves."

 "I don't.… I don't understand, Don."

 "Fuck!" He moved closer to her, grabbing both of her upper arms, his hands wrapping completely around them. "Listen. I can't protect you if you are in some other goddamn country. You can't leave with the Captain, alright? You stay here. You stay low and you'll get left behind. When we come back, I'll take care of you."

 "But…. I mean, I'll be fine. The men are….um…. It’ll work out. I'm more worried about you and the others. You are going into a fight!"

 "Fuck them and fuck the fight!" He shouted, moving away before he shook her, trying to make her understand. How could she not see what he was trying to do? "I don't trust those bastards to keep their hands off you! And you shouldn't either! Who's going to look out for you? Huh? Who's going to make sure they don't lay a fucking finger on you?! Cause I can promise you, it won't fucking be them!"

 He stood in front of her, chest heaving from the anger rolling through him like a tsunami wave. Only now, after his words spewed out like vitriol did he witness the effect. The tears that welled in her eyes, how one of her hands covered her mouth, the other wrapped around her torso almost in a self-hug. 

 "Anna…" Resentment towards himself flooded through his veins. Slowly he tried to reach out to her, to place a hand on her shoulder with an apology dancing on the tip of his tongue, but froze when she flinched.

 And that hurt worse than being pierced with a bullet. 

 He made no further move towards her, afraid of her reaction. Frustrated at everything but mostly himself in the moment, he ran his hands through his hair. 

 Her gaze had dropped to the floorboards, hunched into herself. Finally after several seconds, she whispered. "What do you want from me, Don?"

 What did he want from her? Hell, if he was still trying to come to terms with that answer himself. In the moment, he chose to honestly answer. 

 "I want you safe."

 His equally soft reply made her head jerk up, eyes meeting his. "Why?"

 "You're a part of my crew...and I swore to make sure they survive this war. I can't do that if you're in another company."

 "Is that the only reason?"

 Did she know how loaded that question was? How this growing tension between the two of them grated on him? Not because he disliked it. No. Because he wanted her closer. But this was war, and no one was guaranteed tomorrow. So he answered with something that tasted like a half-truth. "The only one that matters right now."

 She sniffled, wiping away the moisture from her eyes with her dainty fingers. 

 As if approaching an injured animal, he carefully shifted closer to her. Seeing the tears in her eyes broke what resolve he meagerly held. He hated that he made her cry, made her flinch. It tore at his soul. Something his mind demanded he fix, for both of them.

 Hesitantly, he reached forward and clasped her hands in his. She inhaled sharply, but only tightened her grip on his hands. The air between them felt charged with something unnamed but powerful. The way their gazes locked, hands holding each other, as if they had been put under a spell neither wished to escape. 

 "I need you safe, darling…." He murmured, the words flowing out of him without his conscious approval. Only after did they hang in the air, waiting to stoke the fire between them or shatter everything like glass. 

 "Darling?" The corners of her lips turned up in a barely-there smile. 

 He huffed a short laugh. "That alright?"

 "Yes." She answered with a blush growing on her cheeks. 

 And damn if that sight didn't stir something within him. Following his instincts, he gently tugged her closer, pulling her into a warm embrace, beyond pleased when she practically melted against him. His arms went around her back while her arms wrapped around his waist. Her cheek laid against the middle of his chest and he wondered if she could hear it pounding within him. Not for the first time was he reminded how small and vulnerable she seemed, tucked against his body now. He knew and witnessed how strong she truly was though. Faced with blood and death and distraught, she still persevered. 

 She sighed after some time, neither attempting to end the embrace. "I'll try to hide but I don't know where I could. All the medics know I'm here. Arthur and the others will be expecting me to join them especially after losing…" Her voice trailed off. 

 He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We'll figure it out. I promise." 

 "I trust you." They continued to stand there, finding solace in one another but also a silent understanding between them. Of affections that were too dangerous to say aloud but still lingered in the air. A few seconds later, her whisper disturbed the peace. "I'm so tired of this war."

 "Me too."

 A knock on the door broke their moment but when Anna tried to step away from Don, he only held her tighter, unwilling to give her up but also wanting to protect her. He watched the door open to reveal a medic, who although his face seemed calm, there was an undercurrent of tension in the way he clenched his jaw and the shifting of his eyes as he immediately took in the scene before him. 

 "Chérie? Everythin' alright? Spina said he 'eard yellin'."

 Only when she turned to face the medic did Don let her go. "Yes. I'm sorry, Gene. It's nothing.... just a misunderstanding."

 "Mmm." The medic glanced back down the hallway then stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him. "Someone wanna tell me what's goin' on?"

 Don immediately recognized the name Gene. She had referenced him multiple times when she had been over taking care of Norman. By the way she spoke about him, Don picked up that she trusted him and they were friendly. Perhaps he had an ally here after all. 

 "Are you able to hide her?" He asked bluntly, knowing his time was running short to figure out a plan. 

 Gene's eyebrows scrunched together. "What?"

 "Don, no... it’s fine," she answered at the same time, placing a hand on his arm, "I'll figure out something."

 "Nah, chérie." Gene looked back over to Don, expression reserved but determined. "What do ya mean?"

 Don quickly explained the situation, impressed by the medic with the thick accent and how he absorbed the information thrown at him without too many questions. 

 Gene nodded once at the end, gaze downward as he ran his tongue over his teeth. Finally, he looked up at the two. "I know somewhere. They got some extra room. Lemme talk to their Sergeant first."

 Anna's gaze bounced between the two men, clearly unable to believe what she was hearing. "We can't do this. We'll get…. I don't want to cause more problems or get people in trouble. What happens when your Captain finds out?"

 Gene shrugged. "Winters is a good man. He might not like it but he'll understand." He paused, tapping a finger on his crossed arms. "I'll go now. Anna, stay here, get ya things gathered. We'll bring ya over tonight."

 She stared at both of them again before Don could visibly see her acceptance when her shoulders sagged. With a roll of her eyes, she gave the medic a cheeky salute. "Yes, sir."

 "Fille effrontée." He grinned. 

 She blew him an air kiss that made him shake his head, a small grin on his lips. The two men nodded at each other once more before the medic slipped back out. 

 Once alone again, she turned back around, placing her hands on his chest, peering up at him earnestly. "Be safe, please...tell the others for me too."

 "I will." 

 This time he leaned down as she rose up on her toes to press a kiss to his jawline. His hands tightened on her waist, where they had landed. Instead of immediately pulling back after she fell back onto her flat feet, he lingered. Hovering over her, he cupped her cheek, guiding her head. She was completely pliant under his touch, allowing him to tilt her face until their noses almost touched. He was spellbound, staring down at her. Her gentle breaths sliding across his mouth tantalizingly. It was the soft adoration and trust in her sapphire eyes that pulled in his chest and stole the breath from his lungs. She was too good, too pure for someone like him. Yet he could not draw away from her, captured in her tender affections, left breathless by her kindness. Turning his face just slightly, he could feel the corner of her mouth against his, her warm breath hitting his cheek. 

 "I should go." He whispered, without moving away. 

 Her hands slid up to the nape of his neck, causing him to suppress a low groan as her chest pressed against his. "Don, please come back." Her words pierced his heart. 

 "I will, I promise." This time he brushed his lips over hers. It was just a moment, the faintest of touches but the spark it ignited in him felt like an inferno awakening. 

 Abruptly he pulled back, turned on his heels and walked out. If he stayed any longer, she would be in his arms, his mouth devouring hers, her back pressed against the nearest wall. He had half a mind to turn back and do that just now. But he kept walking. Why she held any affections for him left him boggled. She deserved better than him. He wanted her though. Christ above, he wanted her. It was becoming a truth he could not ignore. 

 And that barely-there kiss only proved it. 

 *****

 Anna followed behind Gene as they headed to a different building, supposedly where she would stay hidden. She worried all of this would blow up in their faces eventually, that the men would get in trouble because of her, that she would be sent away to a company she did not know. Would the army count this as desertion? Fears and concerns tormented her mind, but it was too late now. Her feet were already planted firmly on the path. Physically and metaphorically. 

 Gene had told her that she would stay with the paratrooper platoon until after Captains Evans and his company left. The Cajun medic had already started a rumor along with Spina, who seemed to be enjoying all this espionage a little too much, that she had been sent to assist a family living just outside of Haguenau where the wife was in labor with her first child. It would explain why she was only gone for a short time and as to why her sudden disappearance. Plus, Gene reasoned it sounded like something she would do. She could not blame him there. It would be. 

 So now, they walked in the late hours of the night, moonlight highlighting the ground beneath their feet. The ill-fitting ODs, the coat from a dead soldier and her medic satchel were the only things she owned. All of her other possessions and clothing had blown up when the medic truck was hit during the surprise attack. She desperately tried not to think about that fact. She was alive and with no injuries. Twenty-two men lost their lives that day. Her few belongings were minimal compared to that. 

 She still missed her book though. 

 Gene did not even knock when they reached the damaged house. Quietly, he opened the door and shifted so she could walk in first. The wooden floorboards creaked beneath her feet, making her freeze for a moment. Only after a word of encouragement from Gene did she continue. As she stepped in, she could hear the murmuring of voices suddenly fall silent. Knowing Gene was at her side and he trusted these men, she took a deep breath before taking another step forward. 

 She rounded the corner from the entryway and towards what must have been a common room before the war. There were three men, two sitting on beat-up looking couches and one standing. The moonlight shining through the window cast everything in deep shadows. Somehow it felt appropriate for all that these men had been through. How they were still waiting for the sun to shine on them again, to beat back the shadows and nightmares and remind them to hope and dream of the future without war hovering over them like a furie.

 It was as she met the gaze of the one standing, staring at her, that she could feel tears well up in her eyes. He looked so world-weary, as if he had not slept in years and all peace had abandoned him. His eyes once so bright with laughter and life were now dull. His once expressive face was now weathered and closed-off. Only his red hair looked the same. It broke her heart. 

 "Donnie…." She softly said. 

 The corners of his lips lifted up at the nickname she bestowed upon him so long ago. "Hi, Anna."

 Without warning or a care for his reaction, she flew across the room. She threw her arms around him, the top of her head just at his chin. A few tears spilled as he seemed to hesitate at her action, as if he had forgotten what a hug was, as if he no longer understood how to be comforted. Then slowly his arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to his chest. 

 "I'm so sorry, Donnie." She mumbled against him, fighting a losing battle against the tears flooding her eyes. "Muck and Penkala…. they were the best of men. I'm so sorry. And for the others too." 

 He stiffened at the names of his deceased best friends. She could feel the shudder that ran through him, the soft sob he forced back. "Not…. not your fault." He finally whispered, a faint quiver in his voice. 

 She pulled back to meet his eyes, uncaring of the tear tracks staining her cheeks. Carefully she moved her hands to cup his face between them, forcing his gaze to stay on hers. "If you need to talk, I'll listen. Or just cry. Or hold your hand. I'll do it, without any questions."

 "Sure."

 "I'm serious."

 "I know. You sound like you've been hanging out with Doc Roe too much." He teased, forcing back the pain in his voice. A slight squeeze of her hand let her know he appreciated her words. 

 She giggled, sliding out of his embrace to glance at Gene, who had moved to sit next to another redhead on one of the couches. "He does start to rub off on you, can't decide if he's a good influence or a bad one."

 Gene scowled at her, making her giggle more. 

 "Who's the dame? Easy taking female paratroopers now?" The other redhead asked, his Philly accent unmistakable. 

 "Nah, this is Anna Cooper, a nurse. She's gonna stay with ya fellas for a couple days." Gene said casually. 

 The redhead's eyebrows were furrowed as his gaze darted from Gene to Anna and back. "Why?"

 "I just missed Donnie here so much." She smiled up at the man, who just gave her an awkward smile, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

 "Uh huh. So, what's the real fucking reason?" The third man asked, twirling a cigarette between his fingers. 

 "Joe, nothing you need to worry about right now." Malarkey answered. 

 Anna wondered if Gene expected the whole platoon to know of her existence there and why or only Donnie and himself. That was probably something she should have asked before their arrival but her mind was too caught up in its tornado of fears. 

 "How do you two know each other?" The other redhead asked, now eyeing her like she was a rare specimen. 

 Roe sighed, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. "She was in Albourne with us medics when we were training before the jump into Normandy."

 "Donnie here also took me on a date." Anna blurted out, a smile on her lips. 

 "What?" The one Malarkey had called 'Joe' stared with his jaw dropped. "A'ight, now I gotta hear this." 

 Malarkey rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he looked down at her. "Not sure I'd call that a date, Anna."

 "Mmm...it's a date when you kiss the girl after, right?"

 For a beat there was shocked silence before the two on the couches started laughing, Roe just shook his head and muttered something to himself. 

 "Holy shit, Anna…" Malarkey rubbed a hand over his face. If there had been more light, his face most likely would have matched the color of his hair. "I thought we agreed never to mention it ever again?"

 "It wasn't that bad, Donnie."

 "Yes, it was. That damn shovel almost broke my nose. You had to walk me to the aid station instead of me walking you home."

 "I mean.... when you say it like that." Anna teased. 

 "Shit, I really need to hear this now." 

 "Babe, no." Malarkey pointed his finger at the other redhead then moved it to the other man. "Joe, not a word."

 The one, Joe, shrugged, a smirk on his face. "How come I don't remember this?"

 "Cause you was in London chasin' skirts and gettin' in fights that weekend." Gene stated evenly. "It's late, I need to head back to the aid station. Malarkey, where is Anna stayin'?"

 "Right. This way." Malarkey led the way with Anna and Gene following up a set of stairs and down the hallway to a bedroom. "Supposed to be for officers I guess but since we don't have any…. the door locks too."

 "Thank you, Donnie." She smiled up at the man, someone she had thought she would never see again. It was funny how fate had brought Easy Company back into her life. Moving further into the room, she was pleased to find a single bed pressed against the wall and a desk across from it. Otherwise the room was completely bare of any other furniture or decorations. 

 "Ya ok here, chérie?" Gene leaned against the desk, arms crossed over his chest. 

 "Yes."

 "Good, good. One question then." Gene paused, an intensity in his eyes that startled her. "What's ya relationship with that Sergeant?"

 In the middle of slipping the coat off, she froze, having not been expecting that question. Her mind raced with trying to find an adequate answer. Although it felt futile. How could she describe her relationship with Sergeant Don Collier? Not that there was a relationship, per se, even if memories of their last encounter sprung forth in her mind's eye. Even though they had not known each other long, he was someone she found herself trusting wholeheartedly and feeling safe around. The loyalty of his men inspired her. The brutality of war was evident in the way he carried himself, the shifting of his eyes and the perpetual frown on his face when he was thinking. Yet he still cared. He still went out of his way to take care of a nurse who meant nothing to him. How when he was close by, her heart beat a little faster and butterflies danced in her belly. On more than one occasion, as she laid down waiting for sleep to find her, she wondered what his kiss would feel like. 

 Finally, she settled with a glossed over version, hoping Gene would be satisfied with just that. "Um....we don't…. he’s just looking out for me. Him and his crew kind of took me in."

 "Mmm….and when I walked into him holdin' ya in his arms, lookin' ready to kiss ya?"

 "It's....it's not like that."

 Malarkey spoke up, leaning against the doorframe. "Who’s this Sergeant?"

 "In charge of the armored division." Gene answered, dark eyes staring at her as if to sift the secrets out of her words and wide eyes. 

 "Don's just looking out for me…. him and his crew, they've, well, they've protected me several times already from…. others." She finished lamely, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to push the memories away. 

 He must have sensed her discomfort. "Alright, chérie, just be careful."

 She nodded. She appreciated his concern but felt it was misplaced. 

 "Don, huh? Do you call him Donnie too?" Malarkey broke the following silence. 

 She rolled her eyes but smiled at the slight change of subject. "No, only you get that nickname."

 "Lucky me. So, is he a redhead too? You have a thing for the name Don?"

 She covered her face as her cheeks warmed. 

 "Ya two can discuss this tomorrow." Gene pushed off the desk. "I'll come get ya the day after tomorrow. If ya need anythin', send someone to get me."

 She dropped the coat at the end of the bed and moved to give him a quick hug. "Thank you, Cajun angel."

 He rolled his eyes while Malarkey snickered in the back but returned the embrace.

 Next, she walked over to Malarkey and gave him another quick hug. "Thank you too. For doing this for me."

 "I'm in the room across, if you need me. Bathroom is two doors down."

 The two paratroopers then left, closing the door behind them. Taking a deep breath, she surveyed around her as she stood there in the small room under the moonlight shining through the window. The future was always unknown but especially now, she felt tossed about on the waves of uncertainties. She hoped this plan was not completely foolhardy, but she would admit, she felt safer with Gene and Malarkey looking out for her while Don and Boyd were gone. She would never admit how she had cried while hiding away from everyone when she realized she was no longer alone, that she would not be sent with Captain Evans and his company. There were good men looking out for her. 

 She crawled into bed, slipping under the scratchy covers. All the while, her mind sent a fervent prayer that the crew of Fury would be safe. That they would return to her uninjured. That Don would be okay.

[jay-the-angst-king]

Hero Info Pages Part 2

Something I’ve always found interesting are the hero info pages for Overwatch characters. There’s a lot of details in these clips that either set up a trend that follows the hero’s character, a trend about the overarching struggles in Overwatch, or seemingly have no foundation in the lore but most certainly can be entertaining to think about how it could fit in the lore. 

Part 1 can be found here.

Soldier is very straight forward, and we can see that in his Ultimate.

Tac Visor shows Soldier attacking Reaper first, then Widowmaker, then Hanzo. What I take from this is that Soldier prioritizes Talon above other criminals, and prioritizes Reaper above other members of Talon. I actually really like the composition of Reaper in front, Widow just outside of the circle, and Hanzo way off to the side, because this composition is half of why the clip is important.

For both the primary fire and the Helix Rockets, Reaper is the target. Soldier’s entire story and motivation is hunting Reaper down.

The clip for Soldier’s Biotic Field also confirms that he still has a sense of helping others and allies as he heals Tracer, Winston, and McCree. The location for all the clips is Dorado, which refers back to his cinematic, Hero, where he helped the little girl. Both of these things reinforces that Soldier is still a hero at heart even if he’s a “man on a mission” and that mission is Reyes.

Mercy’s hero info page is incomplete. That’s something to note. The clips are old clips and don’t change with updates to the game. Some abilities are not visually shown how they work. You just get a description and that’s it. For Mercy, there are no clips for her Ultimate Valkyrie, or her Resurrect ability.

With that in mind, there are still clips for her staff, blaster, and Guardian Angel which showcase other heroes.

Mercy uses Guardian Angel to fly up to Tracer, and she heals Tracer with her Caduceus Staff. When she uses left click, Tracer is attacking Reinhardt.

Now, I don’t particularly think that Angela has anything against Rein. I think this can be explained away as training or testing out new equipment because they are on Gibraltar.

However, I think that showing Roadhog rather than Reinhardt would have fit better for these clips considering that Mercy uses her Caduceus Blaster to shoot down Junkrat, a criminal.

Echo is the newest character in the game, and her hero info shows some interesting things.

Firstly, her Tri-Shot primary fire shows her attacking Tracer and Reaper. I can’t explain this as training since it’s in the same clip. Echo is not training with Reaper anytime soon.

So why is Echo attacking Tracer in this clip? Maybe it’s to show that Echo can lean one way or another depending on how she grows as a character. She is a constantly learning AI program. It can also be yet another metaphor for AI programs going rogue. Mina Liao, the scientist who made Echo, infused some of herself into Echo’s creation. Dr. Liao was also the one who created the omnics in the first place, and the omnics had gone rogue after years of mistreatment which started the Omnic Crisis.

Echo attacking both Tracer and Reaper could hint at more omnic uprising, or just another memory of the first Omnic Crisis and subsequent Omnic Uprising as seen in King’s Row.

Her Ultimate Duplicate is fascinating. From left to right, Echo is against Sigma, Doomfist, Tracer, Moira, and Roadhog.

Echo Duplicates Tracer, then shoots Roadhog for ult charge, and sticks Tracer to kill the other four. I’m not about to say that Echo dislikes Tracer. That’s just not what’s up here. Tracer is being used here because the community is very comfortable with Tracer, and Echo was new. They wanted to display this ult with someone they knew the community would understand.

That being said… What could this mean?

I think that we could read this clip as Echo accidentally killing or hurting a teammate. That would be awful and sad, but better than the second idea that Echo would sacrifice a teammate just to catch the criminals.

Her Sticky Bombs kill Sombra and Hanzo, and her Focusing Beam finishes Roadhog. This all takes place on Gibraltar, which I think helps accentuate that she’s new and learning. Route 66, where we first met her in the Reunion Cinematic, would have been a nice map to showcase her abilities, too, but they choose Gibraltar, probably to reinforce the fact that she is apart of the new Overwatch team thanks to the Recall.

Hey, Tracer, why are you shooting Zenyatta?

There’s two reasons I can place for Zenyatta being Tracer’s opponent when showcasing Tracer’s abilities. The first is the overarching theme of omnics versus humans, and that theme really permeates when shown repeatedly on King’s Row where we know Mondatta was assassinated and an Omnic Uprising occurred.

Her Ultimate only calls back to the Mondatta assassination as Tracer attaches a Pulse Bomb to Zenyatta, and it kills Widowmaker and Hanzo as well.

Widowmaker and Hanzo, you say? Widowmaker, the one who killed Mondatta, and Hanzo, another known sniper and assassin?

It seems to me that these clips are not meant to show Tracer’s allegiances, but more to continue the themes we see throughout Overwatch. These clips only hammer home the stories we already knew. A sniper killed Mondatta, a prominent speaker and activist, and King’s Row is home to omnic and human tensions.

Lucio has a whole info page about helping Overwatch, who will become his new friends. To start, Lucio uses Sound Barrier to gives shields to Tracer and Soldier.

There’s not much to say about that on its own, so let’s continue on.

Lucio uses both Crossfade and Amp It Up to heal and speed up Tracer, but he uses his Sonic Amplifier and Soundwave against Winston.

I think this is Lucio showing the Overwatch team his gear and how he can be helpful on missions with them. That would explain the full Overwatch hero cast in his clips. Lucio himself is a hero of his hometown, and we know with the upcoming Overwatch 2 that Lucio and the recalled team are buddies and working together. It makes sense that Lucio would take some time to show his new friends how his gear works.

Reinhardt is, thankfully, relatively quick to talk about.

His primary target in his clips? It’s Hanzo. Hanzo is a mercenary, an assassin, a criminal, but he’s not apart of Talon. The reason I say this is because Reinhardt is specifically attacking a criminal with no interest in Talon because Reinhardt was still working after leaving Overwatch. His work switched from fighting rogue AI and Talon to fighting regular criminals like Hanzo.

That’s doesn’t mean that he’s not going to attack Talon.

Reinhardt uses his Earth Shatter to stun Reaper, Hanzo, and Widowmaker, so he obviously will still attack Talon even if he’s no longer an Overwatch member.

Hardest thing to explain in these clips is the setting of King’s Row. Really, I think the only reason Reinhardt wasn’t placed on, say, Eichenwalde, was because Eichenwalde came out after the game’s release. So there just wasn’t a better map for Reinhardt at the time. Still, King’s Row isn’t a bad place considering that there was an omnic uprising there and Reinhardt was one of the heroes who went on that mission.

Ana... I love you, Ana, but what’s happening here? Ana’s clips are buck wild. I don’t know where to begin. I’ll add a Read More, since this is so long already.

I guess we start with Biotic Rifle. Firstly, she heals Reinhardt, and then she kills Soldier. When zoomed in, she heals Tracer, and only shoots Pharah twice, not enough to kill.

What a lot to unpack.

I think this shows that she’s good friends with Reinhardt, just as they have been for years. She is the only one of Reinhardt’s friends to apologize to him about faking her death after all. Attacking Soldier and killing him could be a sign that Ana and Soldier, though friends, do not share the same thoughts about something. My guess is that Ana thinks Soldier’s mission is too much for him, that she thinks he needs to stop before he gets himself killed. That does align with more recent releases where Ana is helping him but also checking him when Solder pushes too hard. Healing Tracer seems obvious since Ana is still a healer and Tracer is a well respected hero, but attacking Pharah is interesting. I think Ana attacking her daughter is actually a figurative way of saying that the two don’t get along. Ana doesn’t kill Pharah, just injures her, and I think this is there to show their strained relationship even though Ana still cherishes her daughter.

Much of everything after this is speculation. Like I said, Ana’s clips are wild.

Ana sleeps Zarya. Perhaps this is to show that Ana, an old soldier, is tired herself. I think targeting a younger soldier like Zarya implies that Ana thinks the fighting and wars are exhausting. Maybe this is Ana not so subtly telling the younger soldier that they need to take care of themselves, too, much like she gets on Soldier about him talking care of himself.

The Biotic Grenade is wild. She smashes the grenade at Lucio, Winston, and Roadhog to show the healing properties, but then uses it offensively against D.Va to show that Mercy can’t heal the mech. This entire clip has thrown me for a loop. I can’t particularly explain it.

Perhaps she heals Roadhog because Roadie was once a soldier in ALF, and she can not blame him or others like him who attacked omnics to defend themselves back in the day. Perhaps they might have met back then, which I think would have been interesting to explore. But then why hinder D.Va’s healing? Maybe she thinks D.Va, a 19 year old, shouldn’t be fighting on the front lines. Ana views her as a child, just like Soldier and Reaper do, and thinks that Hana shouldn’t have to fight wars for adults.

I think Mercy being the one healing D.Va is a reference to Mercy disliking how Ana uses Mercy’s research in a weapon like the Biotic Rifle. This puts them at odds with one another. On the other side, Lucio is likely there to show the amplified healing from the grenade, but maybe this also shows that Ana respects Lucio as a hero. Finally, Winston was an old friend.

Lastly, her Ultimate, Nano Boost. She Boosts Reinhardt, and Reinhardt kills McCree, Zenyatta, Tracer, and Soldier.

Ana deserves her own post at this point. Why are they attacking these four people? Ana just healed Tracer with her rifle not too long ago.  For this bizarre clip, I have no reasoning, so lets see what this COULD mean.

I could explain this as Overwatch tearing itself apart. In this case, four of the five people in this fight are Overwatch members, and that only leaves Zenyatta. Maybe killing Zenyatta here is the representation of harmony and diplomacy being broken.

Perhaps this is more about Ana and Rein than it is about the opponents. Maybe Ana’s faked death made Rein incredibly upset. Maybe this clip represents Rein never letting it go. Maybe Rein, for a while, blamed Overwatch (represented by Soldier and Tracer) and Blackwatch (represented by McCree) for her death. Again, Zen’s death would represent a lack of harmony.

Overall, these are my thoughts on this set of characters. There are still over half of the cast left, and I think the remaining Talon members are next.

[furyasyourguide]

Hey! Hey! It’s ya girl fury as your guide! You are either here from google or you saw my youtube video. Don’t worry. It’s at the bottom of my page Either way, Welcome! Here’s some key points and animal recipes from gameplay guide on how to with these chickens in the Cottage Living Expansion Pack in the Sims 4 franchise. If you aren’t careful they will stress you out. We will cover how to buy them, how to raise them, feed and mate them, harvesting eggs and how you can make money off of them, and all points in between. I’ll be adding pictures. Bare with me. I’m just getting started here!

First we are going to talk about stuff to help set you up to prosper as a chicken farmer, then we will get into the meat and potatoes of dealing with these chickens.

Picking Traits

You can really set yourself up for a better gameplay experience by giving your sims certain trains in Create-A-Sim that support what you will be doing in your gameplay. If you are going to be an athlete, select traits like being athletic. These are traits that I love to select when it comes to being the best chicken farmer I can be:

The Animal Enthusiast

The Animal Enthusiast trait helps you to bond and build relationships with animals way faster than if you don’t. The better the relationship that you and any other members of your household have with them the better. It does help contribute with the outcome of your animals products that they make. So make sure that not just you, but other members of your household are cool with those chickens. If I picked any trait it would be this one if I expect to have animals to harvest products from. 

The Green Fiend & Loves Outdoors

Now these aren't necessary for raising chickens and whatnot, but they can be very helpful and I will explain why! You will be outside a LOT if you have animals to harvest from. Selecting the Green Fiend trait if you live in a neighborhood that isn’t polluted gives you +2 Happy Moodlets for breathing fresh air just by being outdoors, and doing things like doing green activities such as upgrading your appliances with eco parts. It usually boosts your inspiration. Since you’ll be outside caring for your chickens you get free inspiration that you don’t have to do anything for like browsing art on the pc, or needing to be a foodie just to get inspiration from getting recipe ideas from the pc or tv. The same with Loves Outdoors trait because it also gives you +2 Happy Moodlets. If you are into canning, cooking, writing, painting, knitting, cross stitch or pretty much anything that being inspired helps then I suggest these because you’ll be outside often. So why not rack up on FREE inspiration? If your neighborhood’s eco footprint aint hitting on much then I don’t suggest eco fiend, but usually I have no issue with it in Henford-On-Bagley which is the new neighborhood in Cottage Living. Let’s take a look at the neighborhood map while we are talking about it because their are shops that are hidden in town that will help you prosper with dealing with these chickens. These are just things that you can do before you start dealing with them to help get you ahead. 

The Grocery and Garden Shops 

The Grocery and Garden Shops are stands located by the bar at the Gnomes Arms at the bottom of the map, but they don’t tell you that bs. They are both open from 9am-7pm. You can get produce and ingredients to cook with which you will need if you are making certain animal treats, make foods with the Simply Living Lot Challenge enabled, to help cut on costs with food and craftables. You can also buy a limited variety of animal treats. 

I know that this video is about dealing with these chickens, but you will need various produce and ingredients to make animal treats with. Treats allow you to get a different color of wool, a variety of eggs, and an assortment of milk flavors. You can extend the life of your animals, and even help socialize and boost your animal relationships. You can even get a golden egg to resell, use in recipes or to get the coveted golden chicken. 

Unfortunately you can only get a limited variety of treats, and limited quantities of them at a time from the Garden Shop. I suggest buying some treats in advance so you can unlock the recipe to make them when you start working with your animals. You unlock treat recipes by feeding a treat to an animal from your inventory, running some errands with the locals, or from getting buddy buddy with the area wildlife and sometimes they will put you up on game by giving you a recipe.

You can come back here and buy the produce and stuff that you will need. I suggest that you grow and make the ingredients for your treats yourself because the shops are highway robbery at it’s Sims finest. Sim capitalism in this game is alive and well. So if you have the coin, I recommend that you get some friendly treats if you have the cash because they are definitely a big help when you are starting out. 

Buying Chickens

To purchase chickens you just click on it. You’ll at least need a hen and a rooster to make hatchable eggs that turn into chicks. If you got it like that, go ahead and cop a hen and rooster chick. That way you can start them out young and build a relationship with them early on. So when they are old enough to mate and reproduce you have a better chance at quality eggs. Even your favorites can disappoint you, but trust me. It definitely helps. 

Hens go for $150 and roosters are $200. I don’t know who came up with that, but I wont choose violence for the sake of this lil’ guide. They come in a variety of colors, but they don’t really affect the outcome of the eggs unless it’s a hatchable egg that you don’t have to use. You can resell them. I prefer to have a variety of them so I can differentiate between them. You can even name them, which is funny to me. 

Taking Care of Your Chickens

Hover over a chicken.  This bubble will basically tell you how your chicken is doing.Keep the coop clean. Feed em. Make sure to give your chicken attention. Those are the basic requirements. Let’s talk a more on how.

Clean Up!

Cleaning the coop is easy. You just hover over it to see what it’s status is. The bubble will tell you your capacity, if and how many eggs are ready to be collected, how clean it is, how many chickens you have, and a break down of them. It will give you an option to clean it if it’s even slightly dirty, which usually happens after they have eggs. 

Feeding chickens in the game is easy. You just click on the coop, and click scatter feed nearby. 

How to Feed Them

It’ll cost you $4 each time you feed them. Make sure that you feed them enough to give every chicken some grub. If you have half a coup or less, one throw is enough. If your coop is full then give them 2. If you are leaving the house or plan on being busy, then make sure you have feed on the ground in advance even if they are full just in case. They ARE bird brains, and sometimes your hen wont come out even though it’s starving. You can scatter the food on the ground then call the hen out. It’ll see the feed and get with the program, OR you can click it and feed the ones who are hungry.

Attention Starved

The hardest part of taking care of these things is giving them attention. I’m not a fan of it. Make sure that they are content by clicking on the chicken and either clicking on the top option which changes, or click socialize then on the various options that suit you. You can also increase your relationship with friendly treats and the animal’s social motive with the animal party treats. We will talk more about treats, but if you give them these it’ll help increase your relationship with them and increase their attention. 

If you do all of this and make sure that you AND your household members are good with the animals then you will have quality eggs, including special eggs of different colors, and hatchable ones that may still disappoint you with a normal quality. The quality is up to you depending on how much work you are willing to put in. Typically they will be eggcellent. Get it? I crack myself up. Lemme stop with the chicken jokes. If you don’t take care of them it will be a real situation down the road. I could make a joke about getting to the other side, but we are just going to move on to how these chickens will move on if you don’t take good care of them.

Your animals WILL complain to you if they aren’t satisfied with how you are running the joint. If they DO run off its usually just one. It’ll come back if you clean up your act and get it together. 

Trade a chicken. Go ahead. You know you want to.

These chickens DO age, so if the Grim Reaper pulls up with the stick then you can’t come back from that. They’ll let you know when your bird is getting on up there in years. You can trade any of them for a variety of stuff if you can bare the pain from the sadness moodlet you will get from the betrayal. Now. If you don’t see when the Grim Reaper comes because you are doing something that isn’t near the chicken or you are asleep or something then you don’t get a sadness moodlet. If you witness it then you’ll still be upset and you gets NOTHING. So I recommend trading the bird before it’s too late.  

You can trade a chicken for white meat, which is pretty obvious. You can also trade it in for animal treats, a lil produce and ingredients to cook with, or you can take the cash and do the race. Chicks can’t be traded for chicken meat, but let’s do a quick trade real quick so you can see how it goes down. 

These Animal Treats, Honey

So let’s talk about these animal treats. This can be more stressful than dealing with them birds sometimes. You do NOT get the animal treat recipe off bat. You have to feed them a treat from your inventory, get it from running errands for the locals, or by befriending critters like rabbits and birds and hope that they’ll put you on game by giving you an animal treat recipe. They give you a gift each day if you ask them, and sometimes it’s some absolute bs. Often times you get a treat recipe. So you can’t make them until you unlock them. Once you unlock the recipe, I beg of you to start growing the crops or working on the needed items to make treats because it will be a big help. Buying ANYTHING in the Garden and the Grocery Shop is highway robbery like I stated before bestie, and I don’t respect it. So if you would like a leg up on getting the ingredients together in advance to save on costs then go to my site itsyagirlfury.com for info from this video, quick tips and animal treat recipes to have everything you need beforehand. You can click on the fridge, the coop or animal shed to make animal treats if you have the ingredients for the ones that you have recipes for. If not? Forget about it. 

To feed a treat to an animal you simply click the animal, click give a treat, select what you have available and that’s that. 

So what do these treats do? A lot. They can boost your relationship and attention when you socialize with your birds. They can extend their lives.They can intentionally get you different colored eggs, like the rainbow egg which is a LOT to deal with. A rainbow egg of excellent quality is a smooth $200 so it is what it is. Not only does the golden treat get you a golden egg, but it can turn a chicken into the coveted golden chicken which is a financial blessing. An excellent quality egg is $300, and a hatchable golden egg is $450. It’s a madd decent hustle if you have them turning out golden eggs like in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. 

The golden chicken also improves anything it’s around. Sometimes it’ll just do it on it’s own. I keep mine locked in a gate so they aren’t just roaming all over during their waking hours or so the fox doesn’t move in for the kill. So they are often near my garden, and will just improve stuff on it’s own. ‘Preciate it homie. You can also click on it, and ask it for help. 

Let tell you about the real MVP though. My evil chicken. She originally was a white chicken. One day I looked, and she was evil. She’s not necessarily evil. They can keep their loved ones from dying. They can even ward off vampires, foxes and the Grim Reaper. They WILL fight the Grim Reaper, but he will hide until it catches the chicken slippin, then go and get what it came for. So it is what it is. 

Animal Treat Recipes

Animal Party Treat -Improves social motive. Required:any mushroom or veggie. 

Chocolatey Animal Treat- Makes brown wool, chocolate eggs, or chocolate milk. Required: custard, chocoberry.

Fishy Protein Animal Treat- Gives an extra wool, egg or milk. Required: any fish.

Flirty Animal Treat- pink wool, a hatchable egg, strawberry milk. Required: Strawberry Jam, sugar.

Friendly Animal Treat- positive boost to the animal’s relationship with a sim. Required: any fruit or veggie.

Fruity Animal Treat- Makes blue wool, a blue egg, or enriched milk. Required: Apple jam, Blueberry jam. 

Golden Animal Treat- gold wool, turns a hen into a golden chicken, golden honey milk. Required: a golden egg, cowberry or honey.

Healthy Animal Treat- extends lifespan of an animal. Required: any fruit or veggie and lettuce.

Midnight Animal Treat- black wool, obsidian egg, or an evil chicken. Beware! Required: cowberry jam, obsidian egg. 

Pumpkin Animal Treat- orange wool,pumpkin spice milk, orange egg. Required: pumpkin, sugar.

Rainbow Animal Treat- rainbow wool, rainbow milk, rainbow egg. Required: blue egg, green egg, orange egg.

Spicy Animal Treat- red wool, fire milk, obsidian egg. Required: spicy mushroom, any veggie.

Veggie Animal Treat- green wool, green eggs, mighty plant milk for lactose intolerant sims. Required: aubergine, lettuce. 

Some Bonus Chicken Nuggets

Now. A few things that I have found to be helpful so we can wrap this up: I’ve found it to be helpful to make sure that you have lighting near them. So if it’s dark it’s easier to see them. 

Speaking of lamps, I keep the warming lamp near my animals so when I go near them I am kept warm if it’s cold outside, and I also get a +1 Happy Moodlet from it. She loves being outdoors so she doesn’t get cold. It’s not the same reason why Cardi B says that people don’t get cold. 

Keep ‘em “cooped up”

If you don’t want your birds just roaming around all the time or to protect them from foxes then keep your gate locked. Click on it and click lock and for all chickens. If they aren’t in one then put them in one. 

Put your eggs in the fridge if you plan on keeping them. If it’s perishable, put it in the fridge to keep it for longer.

The calendar shows what competitions will be held at the Finchwick Fair every Saturday from 3:30-9:30pm. I suggest not going early because they don’t judge you until later. The calendar tells you what two entries they are accepting so you can prepare. If your chicken showed out, and you think you have a chance to win then go enter and win one of those trash prizes lol. The ribbons are cute, though. 

This expansion pack is stressful, but it’s fun. It’s definitely one of my favorites. If you have any other chicken tips or if you are a sims streamer then please leave that in the comments. My socials are itsyagirlfury everywhere on social media platforms. Or you can go to my site itsyagirlfury.com to find me. I’m getemgirlfriday on twitch. That’s also in the bio and at my site. I’d love to have you. I mostly play the sims and it goes down. 

[aricazorel]

My updated list of stories available on AO3; click on the story name for the link

[my AO3 account contains more stories if you are interested :)]

In progress:

Anchor: Ripples (Updated weekly)

Sequel to Anchor (Dragon Age MGIT; trigger warnings/author’s notes)

Cullen and Anyssa came from very different worlds—literally. One a redemptive former Templar. The other a disillusioned historian from Earth. Both looking for a new beginning and finding that with the Inquisition and much more with each other.

Now in a meaningful, stable relationship, the two face the future laid out before them in the wake of Coyoheus’ defeat. The choices of their past and present will play out as ripples into their future as they navigate a new life together, determined to overcome the demons—both literally and metaphorically. What will the future hold for them? Only the Maker knows...

Completed:

Anchor: Moments

Companion piece to Anchor—Dragon Age

Trigger warnings/author’s notes

Cullen and Anyssa grew quite close to one another despite their differing backgrounds. One a former Templar attempting to atone for his past while overcoming a lyrium addiction. The other a historian from a completely different world using her education and skills to get by while overcoming a traumatic experience of her own. This is only part of their story…

~~~~~

Broken Road

Sequel to Messages—Mass Effect

Smut/language

With the Reapers inching closer to victory each day, Major Kaidan Alenko and Lt. Commander Kora Reese serve aboard the legendary Normandy captained by the equally legendary Commander Shepard. Between their last-ditch efforts to change the fate of this cycle and the insidious plots of Cerberus, will they ever truly have the second chance they both want so much? Their past relationship aboard the SR1 and the years apart after its destruction by the Collectors left a mark on both of them. After reconnecting on Earth before the Reapers invaded, Kaidan and Kora face the consequences of their past choices. Will they be able to finally overcome their doubts and insecurities or will this time around end in heartbreak as well?

~~~~~

Anchor

Dragon Age MGIT

Anyssa McBride’s job was in historic preservation, a dream career from her childhood. She never expected to be living history, especially not on another world. Pulled through a rift into Thedas, she is rescued by members of the Inquisition, specifically Commander Cullen Rutherford. With no knowledge of her new world or the Inquisition, Anyssa attempts to overcome her troubled past as she searches for a way home. With the unexpected aid of the Commander, will she discover a way back to Earth or find out that somethings happen for a reason and some people are more than they appear.

~~~~~

Messages

Prequel to Broken Road—Mass Effect

Introduction of OC character—Kora Reese

Kora Reese had been just a LTJG when the Normandy was destroyed by the Collectors. The crew scattered to the winds after their triumph over the Geth and Saren. Their commanding officer declared dead by the Alliance. That short tour of duty aboard the SR1 had changed her life in so many ways. Meeting Kaidan Alenko had changed her life in so many ways. Now nearly three years and a heartbreak later, they cross paths again. Afraid of what that could mean, Reese must make a choice: continue to ignore what her heart wants or try again.

~~~~~

Pieces

Dragon Age 2

Their first night together had been everything both Fenris and Hawke had hoped for. Then came the morning…

Three years later, both still remembered it as if it were yesterday. Could time have healed them enough to finally be together?

~~~~~

A Knight’s Tale

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Violence/language/smut

The Ebone Hawk crew had seen their share of troubles during their mission to find the Star Maps. But when they are finally captured by Admiral Karath aboard the Sith flag ship, the true nature of their mission takes an unexpected turn. Join Jedi Knight Serra Antilles as she attempts to navigate the fine line between what the Jedi Council expects of a Jedi and what her heart tells her to do. Never having been one to follow the Council’s wishes to the letter, her growing relationship with one ace Republic pilot does nothing to help clarify things. Or does it?

[hailbop1701]

ReaperXFemaleReader

Doom: To Hell And Back

Chapter 2: The Ark

Hey guys! I'm happy that the first chapter did okay. If you would like to get tagged please just let me know.

A man who strongly resembled a weasel walked towards the group. Holding out his hand he said, “ Sandford Crosby, UAC public relations.” Sarge had no desire to shake hands with him so he dropped it without missing a beat. 

“Now follow me, please.” he continued and you tune out the rest; only hearing snippets of the conversation. You looked around with mild interest as you and the others stopped in front of the Ark. The man stopped and cleared his throat, “Welcome to the Ark, gentlemen.” he paused seeing you for the first time. “And lady.” 

You raised an eyebrow as the computer announced, “ Initiating molecular mapping drive. All personnel, prepare for activation.” The weasel gestured for you all to stand back a bit. “ Keep your distance from the core or you might get sucked in,” he said with a nervous chuckle. 

Beside you, the Kid leaned towards Goat looking nervous, “You...You done this before?” he asked lowly. Goat gave a noncommittal shrug, “Once. Training Mission” he said and you turned away from the conversation. You really didn’t want to think about it; Ark travel left a lot to be desired. It wasn’t gonna be fun. You wrinkled your nose at the floating silver mass in front of the room, ‘Ugh this is gonna suck.’ you thought. 

Sarge told the weasel man to shut down the surface elevator for the standard six-hour quarantine.  “Target receiver initialized. - Ready to proceed. Ark Travel, 15 seconds.” the computer spoke and Reaper stepped forward. Within seconds the silver mass swallowed him completely. 

“Crow. You’re up.” Sarge said, jerking his head towards the front. Breathing in through your nose, you step forward. The computer counted down and before you knew it; you were gone. It felt like nothing, and everything all once. But sooner than it happened, it was over. You stumbled forward and gritted your teeth against nausea, taking in a sharp breath through your nose you’re faintly aware of someone guiding you to sit down. 

“That’s it. Head between your knees,” they whispered, you look up through your lashes and see Reaper there. All you gave him was a groan in response. “I hate Ark travel.” you mutter. Reaper chuckles humorously, “Yeah it’s not my favorite either.” he murmured back. Squeezing your shoulder one more time before he stood back up and watched as the others came through. You were pleased to see that some of the others fared a bit worse than you. 

Portman couldn’t hold it in. As soon as he stepped through the Ark he threw up; you weren’t sure what was worse. The smell or his complaining, “ Why we gotta come all this way? Why can’t UAC rent-a-cops take care of this bullshit?” 

You rolled your eyes and got up off the floor with a kind hand from Duke. The kid panted and straightened, “ Is it always that rough?” he asked still looking rather pale. 

“Believe me, it used to be a lot rougher. There was a time when Ark travel was susceptible to, let’s say, - major turbulence.” a man in a silver chair said rolling towards them. The poor kid looked confused, “What does he mean?” he asked incredulously. 

“He means he went to one galaxy, his ass went to another,” Reaper said without skipping a beat.  You smirked, “And here I thought he was doing a terrible impression of Darth Maul.” you muttered so only the closest to you could hear. Reaper coughed covering a laugh, Duke snorted not bothering in being discrete, and the Kid smiled; he relaxed a little at your words. Good. 

The man in the chair gave Reaper an unimpressed look, “Call it a scientific miscalculation. Unbelievable as it may seem, UAC does make the odd tiny mistake. Marcus Pinzerowsky. You can call me Pinky. Follow me.” 

You all move away from the Ark after Pinky. Sarge asked where the personnel who weren’t locked down in the labs were. Without looking up from a computer console Pinky responded,  “ In the atrium.” 

Sarge nodded, “Pinky, put us up.” Punky hit a few controls and glanced up, “ Activating remote personal surveillance.” he said. “Circle out men, on my three,” Sarge ordered. 

You got into the circle and turned your body slightly to the left, 

“One.” 

“Two.” 

“Three.” 

With a snap and click, you pointed your weapon at the person across from you which just so happened to be Reaper. He had his weapon pointed right back at you; and without really thinking you crossed your eyes and stuck out the tip of your tongue. And you really had to give it to the guy, he tried his damnedest to keep a poker face. You knew he was amused though by the subtle huff and the twitch of his lip. Sarge looked at you with only mild exasperation and shook his head. You merely gave him a thousand-watt smile as he gave orders. “ People, this room is a code red, which means no one gets in without our permission. It stays ours at all costs. Mac, stay here with our friend and secure the door. Men, on me. Let’s move out. Open the door.” 

People whispered around them, the atrium was abuzz with activity. A man approached Sarge, concern etched on his face. “When can I start evacuating people out through the Ark?” he asked Immediately. “We’re at a level 5 quarantine, nobody goes anywhere,” Sarge said ending the discussion right then and there.  

You watched out of the corner of your eye as Portman sauntered up to a group of women trying to convince them that it was quarantine protocol to do a strip search. Duke shifted next to you and snorted, shook his head. “On behalf of all men. I’m sorry,” he whispered. You smirked and tilted your head up to reply but his gaze was fixed on something else. Or someone else. 

A woman about your age walked with a purpose up to your group, right past Portman ignoring him. Her blonde ponytail swung back and forth until she made it to a stop beside the head of security.  “ Sergeant, this is Dr. Samantha Grimm, UAC science officer assigned to retrieve data from the lab.” 

“Sergeant.” Dr. Grimm politely greeted, and her eyes slid over to Reaper. “Hello, John.” 

“Hello, Samantha,” Reaper muttered back clearly uncomfortable. ‘Oh He’s not happy’ you thought dryly. “Hello Samantha!” a voice said excitedly next to you; rolling your eyes you elbow Duke in the ribs making him hiss. 

“Sarge, this operation is a code red. We really don’t have room for passengers.” Reaper said cooly. Dr. Grimm bristled, “ Excuse me, but I have orders to retrieve data from three servers: Anthropology, Forensic Archeology, and Genetics.” 

“This is a military operation Doctor. We’re really not here to retrieve your science homework.” Reaper ground out. ‘Oh boy.’ you thought with a slight wince. 

“Look, I got an idea. Why don’t you ask your CO what your orders are?” Dr. Grimm asked almost too sweetly. “This is better than daytime TV,” you muttered under your breath. Duke snorts and shifts a little when Goat glares at him. 

Sarge sighed, “ To contain and neutralize the threat, protect the civilians, and retrieve UAC property.”  he said monotonously.  Dr. Grimm looked completely satisfied, while Reaper looked utterly peeved. ‘Yeah, bet they’re siblings.’ you thought finally.  Dr. Grimm walked away, leading them onward. 

“Is this going to spoil my day? Sarge asked eyeing Reaper. The man in question scowled, “No, sir.” 

Duke let out a low whistle, “ Tell me you didn’t let a fine-looking piece of ass like that get away from you, Reaper.” 

Reaper looked grossed out for a split second before saying, “She’s my sister.” 

“No shit!” Duke exclaimed happily. ‘Fucking called it.’ you thought smugly. ‘Only family can piss you off like that.’ 

As we walked toward the pressure door Dr. Grimm explained the layout of the labs. “There’s three sections to Carmack’s lab complex. Archeology, Genetics, and Weapons Research.” 

“You test weapons up here,” Duke asked surprised. You wanted to retort with a smartass remark but Dr. Grimm beat you to the punch. “ Well, it’s a dead planet. You want that tested here, where it’s safe, or in your own backyard?” 

“Been there, done that, got the radiation poisoning.” you automatically chirped earning a few chuckles. Dr. Grimm smiled at you and continued. “ We’re primarily an archeological operation. Weapons Research is in its own separate facility. It had nothing to do with Dr. Carmack’s work.” 

Somehow that didn’t make you feel any better. Something was wrong here and you could feel it in the pit of your stomach. “How many inside when the lab shut down?” Sarge asked looking down at the good Doctor. “Only Dr. Carmack’s team. That’s six people. In one of the carbon dating labs, there was an internal phone left off the hook.” she said warily. 

“Did you get any information from it?” Sarge asked. Dr. Grimm looked at the head of security who then held up a small device. What you heard sent a deep chill down your spine and into your very core. Even after the recording was turned off you could still hear the screams echo around in your head. 

“Open the door.” 

@thottiewithashotgun

@dw-writes

@lauraaan182

[slytherinbarnes]

Sub Rosa [19]

vi. fog of war

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader

Word Count: 4.6k

Warnings: Death, blood, violence, fighting, language, Shumway is an asshole. 

Summary: A plan to knock out Mount Weather’s communication includes a detour for you and the Blake siblings, which results in a shocking discovery. 

a/n: hi, hello, today has been a rollercoaster of emotions so I am feeling v stressed out. but that doesn’t matter lmao. anyways here is the next chapter!!!! the taglist for this series is open! I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think!!!

previous chapter // season masterlist // series masterlist

Two days pass after Finn’s massacre, largely uneventful, marked only by periods of planning to invade Mount Weather, and tension between Finn and everyone else. 

You’re currently walking towards Bellamy’s tent, situated on the opposite end of the camp from yours and Clarke’s, when you see him.

Shumway.

You make eye contact and he starts to walk towards you, and you turn and duck between a row of buildings, bobbing and weaving between them, hoping that he doesn’t find you. A voice drifts between the buildings, sinister enough to make your skin crawl. “La lune, where are you hiding?”

You start to run faster, maneuvering through the camp until you burst out on the other side, near the group of tents. You run towards Bellamy’s, not stopping until you burst inside, unannounced. 

He looks up at you in surprise, his pants held in his hands, and his body uncovered except for his gray boxers. You quickly cover your eyes and mutter, “Sorry I saw Shumway and-”

He laughs, “You don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?”

His voice is closer when he answers, right in front of you. “Cover your eyes.”

His fingers close around your wrist and lower your hand, and your eyes open to his bare chest. His pants are now pulled up and secured, and you look up to meet his eyes. His hands lift to your cheeks, holding you in place as he dips his head, his lips meeting yours.

You lose yourself in the kiss instantly, forgetting Shumway, forgetting why you were looking for him, focusing only on the way his lips feel against yours. How his curls tickle your face, and how his hands are now roaming over your body. They have just reached your butt, giving you a light squeeze, when you hear both your names called from outside his tent. You pull away, breathless, and a second later Clarke steps inside, instantly eyeing you both suspiciously. “Are you coming or what?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” And then she exits without another word, already making a beeline for the bar, leaving you to grab Bellamy and follow. 

“Wait, what’s going on?”

“I was supposed to come get you for a meeting.” You blush when you remember his distraction. “She thinks she finally got the map right.”

“Oh. Good.”

When you reach the table, Clarke is already sitting, map open and spread out, three drinks already waiting. You and Bellamy sit, and she launches into her explanation. 

“It's a Labyrinth. We got to the dam through this tunnel,” She uses her pencil to point it out. “It's all connected to the mine system. That’s our way in.”

You give her a skeptical look. “Sure, if we can get past the Reapers and the Mountain Men.”

Bellamy sighs and leans back in his chair, looking between you and Clarke. “I swear to God, if your mom doesn't sanction the mission soon, I'm going by myself.”

You and Clarke answer in unison, “You won't be by yourself.”

Bellamy pulls a face, weirded out by the synchronization, and you and your twin let out a laugh. Her laughter dies out quickly and you turn to her to see why, finding that her eyes are locked at something over Bellamy’s head. You follow her gaze and Bellamy does too, spotting Finn and Murphy, before you both turn back to Clarke. He attempts to sound casual when he asks, “How's Finn doing anyway?”

She shrugs. “I haven't talked to him since we got back. I don't know what to say.” Her gaze drops to the table, and you can tell she’s somewhere else, stuck in a memory. “He just kept shooting.”

Bellamy tries to comfort her, offering her a similar sentiment to the one he gave you previously. “We're at war, Clarke, we've all done things.”

She doesn’t say anything, and a second later the moment is lost, Finn now standing beside you. “Hey.”

Clarke avoids his eyes. “Hey.”

Bellamy looks between Finn and Clarke, before grabbing your arm and pulling you from your seat. “Next round’s on us.”

“Wait-” You start to protest, turning to look at your twin, but she nods her approval, so you let Bellamy lead you away. You watch the former couple talk as you wait in line, Clarke’s shoulders rigid with tension. When you reach the counter Bellamy hands you a cup of Monty’s stash while he grabs the other two, and you both head back to the table. You note that Finn is now gone, and Murphy is left behind in his place. 

He doesn’t last long though, because Raven reaches the table the same time you and Bellamy do, and she turns towards him. “Beat it, Murphy.”

After he walks off, her face splits into a grin as she looks between the three of you. “I know why we haven't heard from any of the other Ark stations. Mount Weather's jamming us.”

“Show us.”

She turns and quickly heads towards Engineering, and you all follow, abandoning your drinks on the table. She leads you straight to a radio, appearing to be in a state of disrepair, before she looks between you. “I tweaked the resonator and got this.” 

She turns a knob and reveals a high pitched hum, paired with a quiet clicking sound. “It's on every frequency. Long range communication is totally screwed. It's also the reason the range on our walkies sucks. It's the same signal Monty heard in the black box of the Exodus ship.”

Realization hits you. “Wait, so Mount Weather crashed the Exodus ship?”

She nods and Clarke comes around the table to get a better look at the radio. “Can you get around the signal?”

“Around it? No. But if I can get to the tower that broadcasts it, I can make it go boom.”

“No one is going anywhere.”

You all turn towards the door, watching as your mom steps inside, looking pissed. You have the distinct feeling of being caught doing something you aren’t supposed to, but you push it aside as she starts in on her lecture. “What do I have to do to get through to you? You and your friends are not soldiers, and continuing to act like you are puts lives at risk.”

You let out a huff of frustration, but Clarke steps towards her, reasoning with her. “You don't understand, Raven found something. Mount Weather is jamming our communications.”

“It's true. There could be other Ark stations on the ground.”

Major Byrne cuts in, ignoring the good news. “The Grounder retaliation for the massacre could happen at any time, and when it does, we need every available man to defend this camp.”

You turn and snap at her, “So let us go!”

“Neither of you are gonna stop, are you?”

You and Clarke deadpan, “No.” And she adds, “Not until our friends are safe.”

Your mom sighs, “Okay. But I'm coming with you.”

“Then it's settled, we're going back to Mount Weather.”

-

Later that night, after the team has been chosen and briefed, Clarke approaches you once you’re alone in your shared tent. “I need you to do something tomorrow. You, Bellamy, and Octavia.”

“What is it?”

“You need to look for a way into Mount Weather.” She pulls a map out of her pocket and hands it to you. “Mom seems hellbent on keeping us locked up or keeping an eye on us, and this might be our only chance to find one.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

She points at the map, drawing your eyes to a forked path. “We’re supposed to go down this path tomorrow, bringing us opposite of the mountain. But this path takes you towards the mountain. When we get close, I’ll distract mom, and you three can sneak off and go that way. You already know all the rendezvous points, so if you find anything or if something goes wrong, you can meet back up with us and let us know.”

You nod and fold the map up, putting it in your pocket. “I better go tell Bellamy.”

“Don’t let anyone see you. We already know that Byrne is one of mom’s spies, but who knows who else is. If she gets suspicious at all, she might call the whole thing off.”

“You’re right.” You head over to your bed and grab a small blanket off the top, draping it over your shoulders and around your head, shielding your face from view. When you turn to Clarke, she gives a nod in approval, and you slip out of the tent and into the cool night air. 

You slink through the camp, avoiding the busy areas and sticking to the shadows. You make it to Bellamy’s tent without being seen, and you call out his name before entering, giving him fair warning this time instead of barging in. He’s already in bed when you slip inside, and he sits up as you pull the blanket back from your face, revealing yourself to him. “I’m sorry, were you asleep?”

“No, just laying here. I have a hard time sleeping these days.”

He swings his legs out of his bed, making room for you to sit down beside him. “I do too. I think I’m missing the stars.” Or maybe it’s the guilt.

You look to the roof of the tent, opaque, just like all the others, keeping the view of the sky hidden from you. Bellamy hums in response, before asking, “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”

You pull the map out of your pocket, and start to explain the plan. “Clarke wants us to look for a way into Mount Weather tomorrow. You, me, and Octavia. She’ll keep mom distracted so we can slip away and search without a chaperone breathing down our necks.”

“I’ve noticed we’ve had more eyes on us lately.”

“Mom is worried about us leaving again. I get it, I guess, but I don’t like having babysitters that report my every move to her.”

He nods towards your disguise, “That explains the blanket.”

“She’s got spies everywhere. I swear I can’t breathe without one of them telling her about it. And she shows up almost anytime me and Clarke are talking together, instantly suspicious.”

He laughs, “I mean, we are planning a rogue mission as we speak.”

“I didn’t say it was an unwarranted suspicion.”

You both laugh, and when it dies down, you fold up the map and stand to leave. Bellamy reaches out and grabs your hand. “Where are you going?”

“Back to my tent. We both need rest for tomorrow.”

“You can stay, if you want.” 

Your brows lift in surprise, but you consider his offer. “Are you a blanket hog?”

“No. Never.”

You smile, unable to resist your amusement at the serious way he answered your question. His face splits into a grin and he swings his feet back up into the bed and scoots over, pulling back the covers and inviting you in. You don’t know if it’s the cups of Monty’s stash that you drank, or just a desire to be near him, but you lower yourself into his bed, kicking off your shoes before lifting your feet off the ground and sliding beneath the covers. He pulls them up to your chin and you lay stiff beside him, unsure on what the rules are. But then he scoots closer to you slowly, giving you time to protest. And when you don’t, he tugs you closer, wrapping his arm around you and guiding your head onto his chest. 

Once you get comfortable and settle into his warmth, you feel the haze of sleep start to whirl around you, which surprises you. Sleep never greets you quickly, but you welcome it, allowing your lids to drop closed and your brain to slip into a swirl of dreams. 

-

You wake the next morning, warm, happy, and wrapped up in a pile of blankets. When you turn to look beside you, you see that Bellamy is missing. You turn towards the rest of the tent and find him slipping his boots on in the center of the small space. He smiles when he sees you. “I was just about to wake you up. We’re leaving soon.”

You nod and reluctantly slip out of the covers, stretching and fighting off the sleepy haze. Bellamy watches you for a second before reaching down to grab his knife and strap, securing it around his thigh. “You’re a blanket hog, by the way.”

“What?”

“You took all the blankets last night. I had to wrestle them back from you.”

“I did not!”

He laughs and nods his head, his messy morning curls bouncing. “Yes you did.”

You tug your shoes on and glare at him. “I probably had to steal them from you first.”

“Whatever you say.”

You roll your eyes and pat your pocket, checking for the map, before standing and heading for the door. You ignore his earlier accusation. “You ready?”

“After you.” He pauses and you step out of the tent, and then he whispers, “Blanket hog.”

You turn and punch him lightly when he steps out, both of you laughing. “Shut up!”

Both of your laughter dies in your throat when a voice cuts through the early morning air. “Well, isn’t this sweet.”

You cut a glare at Shumway, and open your mouth to say something, but Bellamy grabs your hand and pulls you away, stopping you. “Keep going.”

As you put distance between you and Shumway, he calls out to your retreating figure, “You got a deal with her too, Bellamy?”

The words stop you both dead in your tracks, and you feel Bellamy tense up beside you. You resist the urge to scream at Shumway, kick him, push him into the electric fence. Instead, you take a deep breath, remember the stars, your father, and saving the 47 before continuing to walk, pulling Bellamy with you. 

You reach the front gate and meet up with the others, the last of the group to arrive. Your mom stares at your approach, and her eyes drop down to your hand, still held in Bellamy’s, and you release it, feeling guilty for some reason. Her eyes shift to the rest of the group, “Alright, let’s head out.”

Everyone follows her from the camp as she takes the lead, map in hand, gun tucked into her pants. Octavia and Clarke hang back and wait for you and Bellamy, and Octavia hands Bellamy his pack while Clarke hands you yours. She whispers, “Did you tell him?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We’ll reach it about mid day. Be ready.”

You nod in confirmation and she jogs ahead, rejoining your mother, leaving you behind with the Blake siblings. Bellamy quickly explains the plan to Octavia, who agrees as soon as he mentions the idea.

When the sun stands tall above you, nearing noon, Clarke turns back to look at you and you know it’s time. You motion to the siblings and they spread out, looking up in the trees and pausing to survey the area. Bellamy yells out, “Don't forget to look up, because the Grounders use the trees. That's how we lost John Mbege.”

You watch as space grows between you three and the rest of the group, everyone too busy watching the trees to notice three teenagers dropping away. When the group starts to disappear around the bend in the path, still oblivious, you all take off running down the other path, heading down towards the mountain. 

You don’t stop running for a while, trying to put as much space as possible between you and the others, but you finally slow to a walk when you’ve made it far enough down the path. You pull out the map and hand it to Bellamy, who unfolds it and looks it over before glancing at the area around you. “Before the bombs, there were buildings everywhere. I'm guessing some of them had access to the bunker.”

He pushes on, turning to glance at you and Octavia. “So we're looking for ruins. Anything that's man made, okay?”

You and Octavia nod the same time a voice cuts through the woods. “Griffin! Blake! Let's go right now!”

You all freeze in place before turning around slowly. You meet Sergeant Scott’s eyes and shrug. “In case you've forgotten, we're not under your command.”

“Don't make us do this the hard way.”

Bellamy steps closer to the man, “Come on Scott, 47 of our people are prisoners in this mountain!”

“That's why we're out here.”

You cock your head to the side, and correct him. “Wrong. You're out here to find other stations of the Ark. We're out here to find our friends.”

Beside you, Octavia glances down at her feet and whispers, “Bell.”

You both turn and look at her in confusion, but her gaze is still locked on the ground. You both follow it and realize that all around you, mice and insects are scurrying away, running in the direction you were originally walking in. Scott asks, “What are they doing?”

Bellamy’s voice is confused, but he replies, “Running.”

You hear a pop of thunder behind you, so you turn, and your eyes land on an ominous yellow cloud, crackling with electricity. You point towards it. “Acid fog! We need cover now!”

“Deploy your tents, go!”

The guards pull off their packs and start digging around, looking for their tents. Octavia ignores the command and runs off, following the rats, and you and Bellamy instantly turn to follow her. “O! O! Get back here!”

She comes to a stop around a bend in the path, lifting up shrubbery, and revealing a small crack in between two pieces of metal. “Bell, there's something in here! Maybe there's some ruins.”

Bellamy turns and yells at the others, “Hey! Hey! Over here!”

You all start frantically tearing the vines and bushes away, searching for a door handle. When you find it, Bellamy and Scott grab it and tug, as the acid fog closes in on you. You and Ocatvia start yelling, “Hurry up!”

They finally pry it open and Bellamy pushes you and Octavia inside, followed by Scott. He turns to yell at the other guards, “Hurry, get inside!”

One guard immediately spins and runs towards you, joining you inside. But the other fumbles with his tent for a second longer before deciding to run, sealing his fate as the acid fog rolls over him seconds later, killing him. Scott tries to run back outside and grab his guard, but Bellamy pulls him back inside and closes the door. 

With the door closed, you are all plunged into darkness. You can hear fumbling for a second before everyone pulls out their flashlights and switches them on, bringing in enough light to see each other and some of the area around you. The guards step deeper into the space first, guns raised, and you, Bellamy, and Octavia follow. 

You draw closer to the siblings, feeling uneasy as your flashlight bounces over abandoned vehicles and dark corners. Nearby you can hear the rats squeaking and other unusual sounds, and you try to ignore it, focusing only on what’s in front of you. Scott swings his gun and light around, searching, before muttering, “Where are we?”

You shake your head, “It looks like a garage.”

“More like a tomb,” Octavia corrects you. You find yourself nodding in agreement. 

She pulls Lincoln’s sword out, armed up, and you pull out the only weapon you have on you: the Grounder knife. You and the siblings share a look before Bellamy turns to Scott. “Look, I'm sorry about your man, but we need to find an access door to Mount Weather.”

Bellamy doesn’t wait for a response and is already turning away when Scott stops him. “Hey, not so fast.”

“Sir, that fog will keep us pinned down for another-”

Bellamy cuts himself off when he sees the reason for Scott’s protest, a pistol, now offered out to Bellamy for protection. Bellamy takes it and Scott grabs and takes the pistol off his guard, handing it to you. You take it with a nod of thanks as he adds, “We'll split up, meet back here in fifteen. Be safe.”

You break apart, you and the siblings traveling forward, while the two guards veer off to the left. You move through the garage slowly, your flashlight only lighting up small sections of the space at a time, leaving dark corners largely unexplored. You hear Bellamy make a sound of surprise beside you before he breaks into a jog, and you and Octavia share a confused look before taking off after him. 

He pulls to a stop at a door, and you all exchange an excited smile as he reaches for it, only to freeze in place when a scream echoes through the dark garage. You all immediately turn away from the door, guns lifted and sword out as you start walking back into the pressing darkness of the garage. You can now hear music playing nearby, pretty and melodic and you creep towards it, searching for the source. Bellamy stops and ducks behind a car, pulling you and Octavia behind it and calling out, “Scott? Are you there?”

When no answer comes, he motions for you to start moving again, spread out into a line, creeping along. Your flashlight finally lands on a small wind up radio, abandoned on the ground next to one of the guard’s rifles. Bellamy bends to pick it up, shouldering it, as the sound of rustling reaches your ears. Octavia whispers, “Bell, what was that?”

He swings his gun to the right, illuminating two bodies bent over a third. When they turn towards you, you can see blood dripping from their mouths, and over their clothes. Bellamy fires a few shots, killing them both. “Reapers.”

A shudder passes through you and you hold your light in the direction of the third body, spotting the guard whose name you didn’t know. Bellamy passes his pistol to Octavia and whispers, “Take this.”

She complies, and you all start creeping forward again, now more cautious than before. Your flashlight lands on another body, and it only takes a second for you to identify Sergeant Scott, silent and unoving. Bellamy turns his flashlight to join yours, and it illuminates a third Reaper. He lifts his gun, ready to kill him too, when Octavia reaches out and grabs his arm. “Don't. It's Lincoln!”

When the Reaper’s face lifts, blood is pouring from his mouth, courtesy of whatever body part he was chewing on. Lincoln stands and starts to step towards you, and Octavia tries to reason with him. “Lincoln. Lincoln, it's me! It's Octavia!”

He looks right at her, not recognizing her and charges, lifting her and tossing her to the side. “Don’t kill him!”

Lincoln spins on you and Bellamy, guns both raised, unsure what to do if you can’t kill him. You both start to back up, keeping your distance, and just as he starts to charge at you, a shot rings out. Lincoln drops down and grabs his leg, grunting, and Bellamy rushes forward and knocks him out with the butt of the rifle. You step around him, tentative, and grab Octavia, pulling her away from him. Bellamy reaches out for your hand and you take it, forming a human chain. “We need to get somewhere safe!”

He pulls you through the garage, stopping when he finds a car with dark, tinted windows. He checks the door to the backseat and it pops open, so he slides inside, pulling you in behind him. Octavia slides in behind you, sandwiching you between them, and pulls the door closed softly. You all sit inside, panting and struggling to catch your breath, wondering how to get out of the garage alive. Octavia looks back at you, face fixed in disbelief. “He's a Reaper. How is it even possible? He just looked right through me.”

You hear metal clang nearby and your head snaps up, listening. Bellamy must hear it too, because he whispers, “Shh.”

“How-”

You clap a hand over her mouth, cutting her off, before lifting your finger to point out the window. Lincoln is standing right outside the door, blood dripping from his mouth, face twitching. You whisper back to Bellamy, so quiet he barely hears it, “Can he see us?”

His breath rushes past your ear, his response carried within it. “I don’t know.”

Lincoln stands at the window for a long minute, just staring, before smacking the window and smearing blood across the glass. And then he turns away, leaving you alone again. You drop your hand from Octavia’s mouth, and she turns to Bellamy, mouth already open to say something, but he beats her to it. “Shh, just listen to me. We'll get him back, I promise.”

“How?”

He thinks for a long minute. “We need to knock him out long enough to get him out of here.”

“Scott has a shock baton.”

He turns to you, eyes lighting up. “If we can get the shock baton, we can hit him with it until it knocks him out.” He glances at his little sister, “You’ll need to distract him long enough for us to shock him.”

“Okay.”

His eyes are on you again. “You head to Scott and get the baton. I’ll stand in between the two of you, watching both your backs. Then you give the baton to me and I'll take him down.”

“Okay.”

He takes a breath and then pulls open the car door, helping you and Octavia out. He looks between you both, now hesitant. “You sure you're ready for this?”

When you both nod, he starts to creep forward, leading you around the corner and back to the two dead guards. He swings his light towards them before whispering to Octavia. “Stay here. I’m gonna follow her halfway.”

You both start walking again, heading closer to the bodies, and when you’re halfway between Scott and Octavia, Bellamy stops and takes up his post. You take in a breath of courage before continuing on, now alone, light trained on Scott’s side and the baton that is situated there. You reach him and drop to your knees beside him, struggling to wrestle it free from his belt. When you finally get it, you lift it in the air, high enough that Bellamy can see your success.  

You hear him say your name a split second before a hand closes around your wrist, and you let out a scream, looking up and making eye contact with Reaper Lincoln. Fear freezes every muscle in your body as he pulls you to your feet and then flings you, sending you flying into a car. You feel the baton roll out of your grip when you hit the front of the car, and you land on the ground with a groan. You hear Octavia yelling in the distance, calling to her boyfriend, and you shake off the pain and scramble to your feet. You pick up the fallen baton and take off running towards the siblings, yelling at Bellamy as your approach, “Catch!”

You toss the baton and he catches it with ease, pushing the button and lighting it up, uttering a quiet apology before he presses the baton to the Reaper’s neck and holds it there, shocking him until he drops to the ground, unconscious. You jog up as he lands with a thud, and you all look down at him, panting form exertion. Octavia eyes him. “Now what?”

“Now we take him home.”

You turn towards Bellamy, already shaking your head. “We can’t take him back to Camp Jaha.”

His eyes meet yours, and he shakes his head. “Our real home.”

You think of the Delinquent Camp, full of tents, home of the dropship, and smile. Home. 

-

next chapter

[leam1983]

Felix the Reaper - Thoughts? Review?

Can't really go into too much detail, it's rather late as it is and the ol' bed is beckoning, but I also want to couch this down somewhere while it's still fresh...

So, Death as a concept - as a character - obviously permeates the whole of human civilization. You've got Anubis and Osiris, Humbaba the Undying, thousands of years of mythology surrounding the concept of life leaving you and your flesh-bits rotting, generation after generation of people processing grief in visual and abstract forms - and now, we're sort of living in a context where Death isn't really all that scary anymore. We understand it, we can push it back in some cases - and when we can't, then we can sort of map out its occurrence. What started as just this inexplicable force swiping at hunter-gatherers and that warranted Danse Macabre paintings across Medieval France is now something we can put an almost-precise date and time on. There's a bunch of "death clocks" online that project a potential DOD based on your age, gender, health status, habits and BMI; sort of turning the concept of memento mori into a shockingly literate manifestation.

You will die, one day. We're so aware of that that a bit of science and Web design wizardry can shit out a half-serious guesstimation of when it'll happen. Pre-Colonial aspects of Death survive in Mexican culture in the forms of both calaveras and the Santa Muerte cult, and the inevitability of death now even counts as a game mechanic in the SoulsBorne genre. You've got Terry Pratchett's extremely Humanist rendition of Death and, well, Hollywood faff à la Meet Joe Black. The short of it is we're far from the robe-wearing zombie we used to plop everywhere as a reminder of our own supposedly sinful urges or on the fleeting nature of youth.

Another item that's of interest is the notion of life and youth being represented as the Maiden - and of Death being in love with her. Sometimes, the affection isn't returned and disgust is shown. That's most of Holbein's death-related works, in this case. In others, the Maiden leans in, lets the skeletal figure push a hand underneath her skirt and against one of her thighs. They share a kiss, press against one another in the way honest lovers might. He's a dried-out corpse with a bloated midsection and she might've stepped out of some sixteenth-century church in the Netherlands, but their liplock is intense and genuine. In one statue, the Maiden looks like she might've just surrendered to the Reaper's arms, but her hands are also touching his scythe....

Eroticism, a commentary on suicide or plain acceptance - there's several ways to look at that duality, and it's even managed to worm its way over to cultures that don't natively have similar associations with human remains. The Japanese, for instance, do have their own Gashadokuro concept, but the locals of Nagasaki needed their initially-exclusive exposure to Portuguese traders to shrink down their massive skeletal eidolons of doom and to design woodblock prints where a Danse Macabre effectively meets the dress codes and habits of the locals under sakoku, or the Emperor-mandated closing-off of Japan to the outside world.

Death as a dancer. Death, especially, as a force that's quite lively, despite its attributes. A force that falls head-over-heels for Life in its own anthropomorphized form.

This is what Danish devs Kong Orange opted to work on in Felix the Reaper. Their Death has a human name, has a thing for the stuffier ends of Business Casual, is maybe eighty pounds overweight - and won't ever, ever, let the music die. He's also in love, obviously - and in love with Betty, the equally portly and nimble personification of Life. The pair look a bit like a Fernando Botero couple waiting to happen, with ample waists and sagging breasts held aloft by spindle-thin legs - but if Ghostbusters taught us not to cross the streams, then you can assume that Life and Death starting a tango in the same workspace could have severe coincidences on the biosphere. Not that Felix cares, he'd want nothing more than for Betty to notice him. His supervisor is voiced off-camera by Sir Patrick Stewart, who's as delightful as always, and who sort of plays the part of the well-meaning supervisor who eventually realizes his new employee's quirks don't diminish his potential.

And what is Felix's job, exactly? Well, he's Death. He's not getting paid to distribute hugs and kisses, obviously. He gets sent to the mortal plane to, well, kill people, and more specifically, to kill people in precise and pre-ordained ways. His "televator" takes him to an instant frozen in time, and he has to alter the surrounding scene so that once time resumes its course, the requisite accident or happenstance occurs. You do that by picking up items, flicking switches, and placing targets in the path of whatever it is that's set to kill them. You also move the sun around the world using a magical sundial doohickey, as Death can only move in shadows. You're basically Death in the same sense as in the Final Destination movies, except you really, really, really want to twerk and sashay your voluminous heinie through the small changes needed to turn a nothing-burger into a drunk huntsman getting his head stuck in the stump of a decapitated deer, so the dejected and near-sighted hunter you've been following mistakes him for a target and shoots his spear through his brain-case.

And yes, Felix does twerk and he certainly sashays. Dude dresses like a stuffy librarian, sure, but seemingly loses all inhibitions once his headphones come up - which allows the player to share in his personal soundtrack. This particular Reaper seems to have a thing for very bass-driven and samply EDM, with occasional forays into Ambient and Jazz. His many, many, many idle animations all sync with whatever it is that's playing, and so does the variety of prances, somersaults, grands jetés and twirls he goes through while moving from place to place. Comparatively, you get the sense that Felix's coworkers are more the dour and solemn type - with a few unsubtle cameos from Skeletor and Manny Calavera in the opening cinematic - and Felix, well...

Let's just say it's a wonder he has those hips and that paunch. If he twirls around for every little thing he does, then you'd assume he only sits down to hoover an Olympic athlete's worth of food once a day. Or maybe I'm overthinking things because, well, death.

And therein lies the problem, honestly. In thinking, I mean. Felix is a puzzle game through-and-through, and also ties into a Challenge system in order to really tickle those completionist nerves. The starting scenarios are braindead-easy, but the later ones left me stumped for fifteen minutes per screen. Add to that the notion that the game doesn't check off some of them as complete if you only do the bare essentials, and you're left with another would-be mobile offering that doesn't reach its endpoint until you exhaust every little bit it has to offer - even if you're effectively done with the main gameplay loop. It's a great game, but there's just not a whole lot to do in those six chapters, beyond repeating bits of drudgery until your noodle clicks or you give up and look up a solution online.

It's a shame, too. The isometric perspective is perfect, and the game could've been pitched as a hybrid between a puzzler and, say, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. You'd take cover to hide from moving targets or to escape daylight and instead of shooting at them, would emerge from cover to move items around or solve puzzle elements. You could've had Death evoke the illusion of a friendly face to inject some more concrete narrative delivery, for instance. Steal a friend's features, magically conceal yourself, and then have your target piece her own weaknesses together, leaving you to retreat and regroup before executing your plan of attack. But no, everything is out in the open and everything is spelled out for you. Kong Orange could've also stolen a page from Hitman Go and set multiple triggers in place to truly sandbox the experience.

What is there is fun - it oozes personality and charm - but there's just not enough of it to justify Steam's full asking price, IMO. Comparatively, the Switch's online store is currently running a sale for it (as of Sunday the 15th, at least) and lists it as being 2,15$. Two bucks for a few hours of harmless fun is a pretty good deal, as far as I'm concerned. It also underlines why the devs and Daedalic Entertainment alike consider it as having "bombed", as the marketing effectively targeted Devolver's usual stable. It's not crunchy enough, however, and not exactly irreverent enough to warrant that comparison. A more hefty Felix could've earned its full 20$ price point on PC - and Kong Orange's very design for Betty makes it obvious that if Felix ever returns, it'll be in a co-op setup with the love of his, well, unlife.

I'd be up for more of this cuddly, swinging skelly - assuming the devs mature a tad and put something together that's just a smidge more compelling.

[blogangels140]

Ark Survival Evolved Unlock Hairstyles

Here are the commands from the wiki (for the hairstyles): And here is a list Press J to jump to the feed. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. After you have unlocked the hair style, you need to craft some scissors, equip them and use them on yourself by right clicking (pc). An UI opens where you can choose your hair style and hair length. When you click on accept, you will cut your hair short, don't worry, it now grows into shape by time.

Ark Survival Evolved Hair

Ark Survival Evolved Hairstyles

Braids Head Hair StyleConsume this to permanently unlock the style!Consumable (values pertain to Humans)TypeHairstyleItemAdded inv257.0

Spawn Command

cheat giveitem 'Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Consumables/BaseBPs/PrimalItemConsumable_UnlockHair_Head_Braids.PrimalItemConsumable_UnlockHair_Head_Braids' 1 0 0

The Braids Head Hair Style is a Hairstyle that can be accessed via Scissors once it is unlocked.

A quick video explaining how to unlock all hairstyles in ARK Survival Evolved.' Perspectives' Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons. Mohawk, Moustache Gamma Ascention - Requires that you beat all three bosses at Gamma Level, go to the volcanos Tek Cave Entrance, and get to the end of the cave to accend to Gamma. You can use the code below to summon all the items you'll need to unlock the ascention.

Obtaining(edit | edit source)

This skin can be unlocked by completing the Maximum Survivor Achievement.

Maximum Survivor

Reach the maximum survivor level.

Gallery(edit | edit source)

100% length, female character

100% length, male character

v·d·eSkinsBase Game

Clothing

Alpha Raptor Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Araneo Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • ARK Tester Hat • Birthday Suit Armor (Pants, Shirt) • Bone Helmets (Rex, Trike) • Bonnet Hat • Bunny Ears • Captain's Hat • Chieftan Hat • Clown Mask • Corrupted Armor (Boots, Chestpiece, Gloves, Helmet, Pants) • Cupid Couture (Bottom, Top) • Dilo Mask • Dino Ornament Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Dodo Pie Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • DodoRex Mask • DodoWyvern Mask • Easter Chick Hat • Easter Egg Hat • Fan Ballcap • Felt Reindeer Antlers • Floral Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Giga Poop Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Halo Headband • Headless Costume • Hockey Mask • Hunter Hat • Jerboa Wreath Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Love Shackles • Marshmallow Hat • Meat Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Nerdry Glasses • Onyc Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Party Hat • Pilgrim Hat • Santa Hat • Scary Pumpkin Helmet • Survivor's Hat • T-Rex Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Top Hat • Turkey Hat • Turkey Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Ugly Sweaters (Bronto, Carno, Chibi) • Uncle Sam Hat • Vampire Dodo Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Vampire Eyes • Werewolf Mask • Winter Beanies (Blue, Gray, Green, Purple, Red) • Witch Hat • Wizard Ballcap

Costumes

Bionic Creatures (Giga, Mosasaurus, Parasaur, Quetzal, Rex, Raptor, Stegosaurus, Triceratops) • Bone Creatures (Bronto, Carno, Giganotosaurus, Jerboa, Quetzalcoatlus, Raptor, Rex, Stego, Trike, Wyvern) • Brachiosaurus • Megaloceros Reindeer • Procoptodon Bunny • Stygimoloch • Styracosaurus

Saddles

Dino Bunny Ears • Dino Easter Chick Hat • Dino Easter Egg Hat • Dino Glasses • Dino Marshmallow Hat • Dino Party Hat • Dino Santa Hat • Dino Uncle Sam Hat • Dino Witch Hat • Parasaur Stylish Saddle • Rex Stomped Glasses Saddle

Weapons

Bow & Eros • Candy Cane Club • Chocolate Rabbit Club • Christmas Bola • Fireworks Flaregun • Fireworks Rocket Launcher • Nutcracker Slingshot • Pitchfork • Teddy Bear Grenades • Torch Sparkler • Turkey Leg

Scorched Earth

Clothing

Manticore Armor (Boots, Chestpiece, Gauntlets, Helmet, Leggings, Shield) • Safari Hat • Wyvern Gloves

Saddles Weapons

Scorched Weapons (Spike, Sword, Torch)

Aberration

Clothing

Aberrant Helmet • Bulbdog Mask • Chili Helmet • Cute Dino Helmet • Otter Mask • Reaper Helmet • Scary Skull Helmet

Saddles Weapons

Extinction

Clothing

HomoDeus Armor (Boots, Gloves, Helmet, Pants, Shirt)

Genesis: Part 1

Clothing

Corrupted Avatar Armor (Boots, Gloves, Helmet, Pants, Shirt) • Master Controller Helmet

Weapons

Genesis: Part 2

Clothing

Federation Exo Armor (Boots, Leggings) • Poglin Mask Skin

ARK 2 Promo

Weapons

Event

Clothing

Crab Fest Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Easter Egghead • Fish Bite Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Hawaiian Shirts (Bulbdog-Print, Gasbags-Print, Ice Pop-Print, Jack-O-Lantern-Print, Reaper-Print, Sea Life-Print) • Ichthy Isles Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Jack-O-Lantern Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Reaper Swimsuits (Bottom, Top) • Sunglasses

Costumes

Ghost Creatures (Basilisk, Bulbdog, Direwolf, Mantis, Reaper, Rex, Snow Owl)

Weapons

E4 Remote Eggsplosives • Flying Disc • Grilling Spatula • Sweet Spear Carrot • Water Soaker

Hairstyles

Head

Afro • Braids • Dreadlocks • Mohawk • Ponytail • Romantic • Viking

Facial

Curly Beard • Dread Beard • Goatee • Moustache • Mutton Chops • Romantic • Viking Beard

Emotes

Unlocks

Air Drums • Air Guitar • Archer Flex • Belly Rub • Bicep Smooch • Bunny Hop Dance • Caroling Emote • Dance • Evil • Flirty • Food Coma • Happy Clap • Heart • Hungry • Knock • Mosh Pit • Nutcracker Dance • Panic • Scare • Snowball • Turkey • Zombie

Retrieved from 'https://ark.gamepedia.com/Braids_Head_Hair_Style?oldid=473905'

Ark: Survival Evolved, developed by Studio Wildcard, is an action-adventure video game. Styling your ark coiffures is not a difficult task in this game. Though there are certain requirements that you need to follow in the game of ark hairstyles.

Being stranded on the island, players must survive in this game along with hostile human players, natural hazards, prehistoric animals, and roaming dinosaurs.

Ark Hairstyles are obtained by searching for Explorer Notes and as rewards for completing achievements.

All the survivors in this game can use scissors to cut other hairs or their own hairs in order to achieve real human hair. You can also color the hairstyle with dye. But remember that facial hair and head hair are dyed separately. You can access this from Scissors UI. With the best ark hairstyles, you can also try popular bandanas to enhance your appearance.

Different Types Of Facial Hair Styles (Male Ark Hairstyles)

There are different types of facial hairstyles that you must know in 2020. All of them are listed below,

Default Facial Hair

By default, this hairstyle is available for all male players. You don’t need to complete any task in order to achieve this hairstyle. This facial ark hairstyle is automatically set as default.

Moustache Facial Hair

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. However, after completing Gamma Ascension Achievement, you can unlock this skin hairstyle.

Goatee Facial Hair

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing Beta Ascension Achievement, you can unlock this hairstyle.

Romantic Facial Hair

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing Map Maker achievement, you can unlock the skin.

Dread Beard Facial Hair

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing one task, you can unlock this hairstyle.

Mutton Chops Facial Hair

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing Artifact Archaeologist Achievement, you can unlock this hairstyle.

Curly Beard Facial Hair

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing Maximum Survivor Achievement, you can unlock the skin.

Viking Beard Facial Hair

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing the Perfect Explorer Achievement, you can unlock the skin.

Ark Survival Evolved Hair

Different Types Of Female Ark Hairstyles

The below listed are the different types of female ark hairstyles that you must know,

Default Hairstyle

By default, this hairstyle is available for all female players. You don’t need to complete any task in order to achieve this hairstyle.

Mohawk Hairstyle

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing one of the tasks, you can unlock this skin.

Afro Hairstyle

Ark Survival Evolved Hairstyles

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing the Beta Ascension Achievement, you can unlock this skin.

Romantic Hairstyle

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing the Map Maker Achievement, you can unlock this skin.

Dreadlocks Hairstyle

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing one task, you can unlock the skin.

Ponytail Hairstyle

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing the Artifact Archaeologist task, thee can unlock this ark hairstyle.

Braids Hairstyle

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing the Maximum Survivor Achievement, you can unlock this skin.

Viking Hairstyle

Once it is unlocked, you can access this hairstyle via scissors. By completing the Perfect Explorer Achievement, you can unlock the skin.

Read Also:

5 Reasons You Should Try Clothing Rental in 2020

The Final Thoughts

You can twist your way in the ark by completing different types of achievements that are required to obtain ark hairstyles. You can get more hairstyles and grow your hair fast in the ark game via scissors.

It usually takes five hours for hair to grow in the ark because your hair grows in real-time. You can cut the survivor’s hair via scissors to make it short and giving different types of ark hairstyles. Besides, you can also have a look at the best peacock dress that will amaze you for sure.

On the other hand, you can also color the survivor’s hair by using dye. Therefore, these are the ways by which you can learn to unlock different hairstyles by completing specific achievements for males and females.

[sp00kworm]

Ooohh- alright- perhaps may I request Reaper with an s/o that dresses very cyber goth and is part of talon? Perhaps if you want to that is?-💝

A/N: I like your style love heart-anon. Cyber Goth is just mwah a delicious look. I hope you don’t mind me taking a couple of liberties with Cyber Goth by incorporating it into the reader some more...

Pairing: Reaper/ Gender Neutral Reader

---

Cyanide and Mustard Gas

The gas in the room would be burning their lungs by now. You looked at the digital watch on the back of your wrist as you waited, breathing through the spiked respirator slowly as you stood by the door, electronic coils in your hair buzzing. They flashed neon green as you reached to plug the neural network into the door panel.

“Sombra can you get in through this?” You asked through the microphone in the mask, optics flicking over the numbers, the biotechnology mapping finger prints faster than you could comprehend. You entered the door code and listened to the hacker sigh in exasperation, “Sombra, Reaper needs an out. This is his out.” You assured as she set to work, fingers and implants working at the speed of light.

“It was done three minutes ago.” She chuckled behind her desk and span on the chair she was sat in, off to attend to other projects.

You sighed softly as you looked at the gas leaking over the floor, guards foaming at the mouth behind their balaclavas. With a sigh you reached your hand to the floor and reversed the tanks operation, dragging the nanite gas back into its storage. They buzzed viciously hard before the electric field was applied and they went silent.  You pulled the goggles from your eyes and tutted behind the respirator at the last guard left alive. Grabbing him by the neck you dosed his face with a small puff of the deadly nanite concoction, waited until he started to convulse, and recalled it into the tank before getting to the main objective.

The electronic field technology. It was important to not only you, but to the man on the other side of the base causing a disturbance for the sentry omnics. They were huge things, brawling titans of metal, yet you had no doubts he would tear them to pieces for fun. If one of them landed a hit it would cause him to only be more untameable until they were in pieces on the floor. The alarms were silent in this part of the base. You stepped over the corpses, platforms ready to move with a blast of spring-loaded movement should you need, and plugged in the cybernetic tendrils again, allowing Sombra to release the locks before you pulled the cylindrical technology into your hands and tested the weight. Light and easy to move. The tanks on your back whirred as you made it back to the door and tapped the mask for your next channel.

“Reaper. We have the field. Wrap it up.” Professional. While the hacker was listening it was always professional.

“Air lift scheduled for ten minutes. Get to the roof, love birds.” Sombra teased as she cut her channel to avoid Reaper’s tirade. He was silent.

“Reaper report in.” You tried again, cool and calm as you shouldered the field and moved towards the end of the corridor, wrist ready to launch a grenade of gas should the guards catch up to you.

The headset crackled with gun fire and the howling of metal before Reaper growled into the line, “Ten minutes on the roof.” You heard a man scream as claws curled into flesh, “I’ll be there. I just finished here.” Another scream sounded as the microphone cut off and you sighed as you perched out of a window and boosted your way to the roof, dreads and cybernetics glowing as you landed safely, the asset clutched in your hands. The air lift screamed overhead as Reaper materialized in a cloud of thick smoke. It curled over the respirators of your mask as he strode by lazily, clouding around your thick spiked goggles as he set himself in the corner, lounging, blood dripping over his claws and staining the seats. He didn’t acknowledge you as you clicked the field into place in the storage unit and the aircraft took off.

At base, the field was taken from you immediately, the scientists ushering it away on a protected trolley, muttering over something about incorporating it into some new form of gear. With a sigh, you moved to place your own gear away, clicking the nanite tank into its pump, the field deactivating them, making them rest in the bottom of the tank as new ones were formed and inserted to improve the capacity. Smoke rippled along the side of the tank as the tack room door slid closed and locked with a chunk behind you both. The smoke rippled and gazed along the spikes of your respirator, and slicked up the goggles before claws wrapped around your shoulders, trailing over your arms before arms snagged your waist.

“Finally. Not a pesky little hacker in sight.” Reaper purred, mask pressed to the back of your neck as the smoke curled back into the mask and under his coat. You laughed softly as he breathed in next to your ear, and exhaled more smoke over your shoulder.

“Sombra has eyes everywhere...” You didn’t say his name but mouthed it softly as you span and pressed your head into his shoulder, fingers gripping at the black leather of the trench coat covering his form, “But she already knows anyway.” You teased as he grumbled underneath the mask and dragged himself back towards the door. You knew that meant for you both to meet in your room. He would get there through the vents no doubt. Tapping your tank of gas, you placed away the ring belts of grenades and syringes before moving to follow your wraith boyfriend.

The key unlocked your room and you sighed, rubbing at the cybernetics in your scalp as Reaper drifted in through the air conditioning unit, body forming in a puddle of swirling smoke. Reaper sighed through his mask and reached to pluck the bone coloured mask from his face. It revealed the aged face of the man you had grown to love. You smiled as you plucked the respirator away and pushed your goggles off your head, chucking them on the side as you leaned up to kiss the man, fingers stroking at his greying facial hair. Gabriel sighed into the kiss as you pushed his hood back, fingers tugging at salt and pepper locks before he pulled away and held you close.

“I was worried I wouldn’t be enough to distract them...” He whispered as your neon hair pulsed. He reached to stroke through it and you smiled.

“Don’t worry about me darling.” You kissed his nose again before grumpily pulling off the platforms on your feet, “How about we get a bath and just...laze about?” You offered as the wraith pulled his coat free and snapped the metal plating from his boots.

“I would love nothing more.”