#fourth Wraith stealth?

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

various stones with names by thestonestory

[ahoysteviex]

apex legends playing dead by daylight

ash

kill main. obviously.

i feel like she can play almost any killer aside from the stealth ones. she doesn't like biding her time, she just wants to go straight for the kill. so she especially hates playing ghostface since he can be broken out of his stealth

she doesn't run noed because she doesn't need it. which is terrifying

rarely loses 4 gens. it's hard even getting 3 done if you're going against her

is unreasonably good at nurse

perks: corrupt intervention, bbq, hangman's trick, starstruck. she likes dead man's switch too.

will tunnel. won't camp.

bloodhound

killer main

plays wraith, hag, and occasionally pig if they're not taking the game too seriously

runs predator and bloodhound (haha) religiously as well as bbq. sometimes iron grasp. their fourth perk changes often.

doesn't like to camp because they like the hunt too much. doesn't really care about tunneling.

bangalore

switches between killer and survivor but prefers playing swf over solo

for killer she likes deathslinger since he's the only one with a gun. she'll play huntress sometimes too.

i feel like she plays bill for survivor and only switches to a different character if she needs to for a challenge

for survivor she runs sprint burst, vigil, bite the bullet, and built to last. sometimes she switches out bite the bullet for lucky break

either brings a medkit or a toolbox

for killer i feel like she wouldn't pay as much mind to her perks. she'd care more about her add ons.

only camps if it's end game and she hasn't gotten a kill yet

caustic

another obvious killer main

likes hag, oni, myers, and doctor. wishes he could play pyramid head but he sucks at him.

runs a lot of gen defense perks + undying

BIG CAMPER. DO NOT LET HIM GET YOU INTO THE BASEMENT.

[onceupona-chaos]

SJM setting up a forbidden romance

(And why I think ACOSF was written to set up Elriel)

This is my interpretation and obviously an Elriel post. So if that's not your cup of tea, be warned.

I made this post to basically organize my thoughts and then I decided to post it (lol). Here I talk why I think Elriel will be endgame based on my perspective that SJM already set up a lot of things that point to Elriel and a forbidden romance.

ACOSF is the first book of a new trilogy, which means SJM wrote it with an overarching plot in mind that we began to know in ACOSF. So whatever happens in ACOTAR5 is a direct consequence of the events in ACOSF.

For example, SJM won't kill Koschei and write another plot. She made her decisions when she was writing ACOSF and the overarching plot already started to be established.

I already made a post talking about the plot. I think Elain is the only character that can move the plot forward, because she's Made, therefore she can find the fourth trove and she has a connection with Koschei, which combined with how little we know about her and her powers makes her the perfect main character. But here I want to talk a little about how Sarah wrote ACOSF preparing Elain's character in terms of romance and how she set up a future forbidden romance.

At this point, it is canon that Elain is Azriel's secret, I'm not going to talk too much about, because you can check this amazing post here.

SJM structured the first book of the new trilogy around the ideia that something is deeply tormenting Azriel to the point he can't sleep and then we find out he has a secret. The bonus chapter made it canon: his secret is Elain, so there's no going back from that.

Just from the book, we know that there's something wrong with Elain and, whatever it is, she is hiding it.

Elain had already departed with Feyre, claiming she had to be up with the dawn to tend to an elderly faerie’s garden. Cassian didn’t exactly know why he suspected this wasn’t true. There had been some tightness in Elain’s face as she’d said it.

Alright, so the regular reader knows something is up with these two characters. (That alone is already a reason for the next book be about them, but moving on)

But when ACOSF is read with the perspective of a future forbidden romance in mind, we understand precisely why SJM needed us to know some very specific information.

Azriel's personality traits

SJM highlighted specific personality traits of our bat boy:

Az had a vicious competitive streak. It wasn’t boastful and arrogant, the way Cassian knew he himself was prone to be, or possessive and terrifying like Amren’s. No, it was quiet and cruel and utterly lethal. Cassian had lost track of how many games they’d played over the centuries, with one of them certain of a win, only for Az to reveal some master strategy. Or how many games had been reduced to only Rhys and Az left standing, battling it out over cards or chess until the middle of the night, when Cassian and Mor had given up and started drinking.

Sarah made a show to tell the reader the fact that Azriel is competitive, so she needs us to remember that.

That whole scene had one job: to emphasize that Azriel is competitive and strategist.

Now, if Azriel is giving up on Elain and moving on to another character, why bother to let the reader know he doesn't give up easily? If he is going to just give up on the only female that is making him get over his five hundred years passion, why bother to write a scene where he spares with Cassian only to tell the reader that?

Mostly important, why tell the reader that in countless times, Azriel seemed to be loosing, but he turned things around and won?

He's a strategist. Don't forget he planned his strategy for the snowball fight for a year.

“It seems you’ve forgotten how much of spying is waiting for the right moment. People don’t engage in their evil deeds when it’s convenient to you.”

Cassian rolled his eyes. “I stopped spying because it bored me to death. I don’t know how you put up with this all the time.”

“It suits me.” Azriel didn’t halt his sharpening, though shadows gathered around his feet.

When I read this for the first time, I honestly hadn't understood the meaning of the shadows gathering around his feet and it clearly had a deeper meaning.

But reading again, SJM used Cassian's character to emphasize that Azriel waits for the right moment all the time. Not only when he is spying. Being patient, calculating, persistent are arguably Azriel's strongest personality traits, at least the ones that are highlighted in ACOSF. Sarah is letting us know Azriel plays the long game and doesn't give up.

Every information SJM is giving us regarding Azriel (and Elain, more on her later) is essencial for a forbidden romance story. If you know what's going on with these characters, all pieces of information just... click together.

Elain's personality traits

This is a bit more complicated, mostly because Elain is passing through an inner change, which means being prepared for her arc.

However, SJM compared Elain to Azriel in ACOSF:

“Elain was the only one who guessed. She caught me vomiting two mornings in a row.” She nodded toward Azriel. “I think she’s got you beat for secret-keeping.”

We already know from ACOMAF that Elain is good at secret-keeping. But here SJM not only reminded us that, but she compared Elain to Azriel in secret-keeping, emphasizing both of them are probably the best in secrecy among the IC.

Remember: these two characters are clearly hiding something in ACSF. It's not a coincidence that SJM compared them in this case.

She scanned Elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in stealth either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friend.

SJM compared Elain's abilities to Azriel's (and his spies) not once, but twice. And if you take into consideration the previous books, it's not the first time she compares these two characters.

Both of them showed defiant behavior

Defiant: refusing to obey authority

Elain:

“What happened.”

When Rhys spoke like that, it was more of a command than a question.

Elain waved a hand in dismissal before flinging open the veranda doors and striding into the open air.

And of course, he have that fight with Nesta. Nesta isn't exactly authority, but she was described as "Elain's guardian", which means their relationship was at least a little hierarchical.

Azriel:

“No,” Feyre and Rhys said at the same time, in the same breath.

Azriel’s eyes shuttered. “I wasn’t asking for permission.”

“We take no risks,” Feyre said, voice flat with command. “Pull all your spies out.”

“Like hell I will.”

Honestly, is this the guy people are thinking that's going to give up on Elain because of Rhy???????

SJM deliberately let us know about them getting over their previous LI

I've seen a lot o people arguing that "they can't be endgame, because the first couple never is".

But... are we forgetting that they were in love with two different people before?

When Elain met Azriel she was deeply in love with Graysen, and he was still into Mor. The readers didn't even know about Mor sexuality then.

Until ACOFAS, we can see that both of them are not entirely over their LI yet.

Elain:

“I don’t want a mate. I don’t want a male.”

She wanted a human man.

Azriel:

Azriel choked on what I could have sworn was a laugh, his normally shadowed face lighting up as Mor bustled in.

Az, to his credit, gave Mor a smile of thanks, a blush creeping over his cheeks, his hazel eyes fixed on her. I looked away at the heat, the yearning that filled them.

However, we get to see that they are slowly getting closer. Azriel shows he's uncomfortable in spying on Lucien, Elain's throat bobbs at the sight of him, he seeks her out to wish happy Solstice, she gives him a present, they stay up past three in the morning talking and on and on.

Months go by. We already knew they are getting closer and then we have this:

Elain:

She knew Elain had given her maidenhead to Graysen a month before they’d been turned Fae. Elain had been glowing the next morning.

Elain cocked her head. Didn’t dissolve into the crying mess she usually became when Graysen came up.

Elain was glowing: she was in love, happy. She loved Graysen. And now she is getting over him. Not only that: SJM made sure to tell us she has had sex before (and enjoyed very much lol). Elain is clearly being prepared for her arc in terms of character development, plot and romance.

And Azriel:

Mor no longer sat beside Cassian, draped herself over him, and Azriel … those longing glances toward her had become few and far between. As if he’d given up. After five hundred years, he’d somehow given up.

Few and far between. It's a process for both of them to move on. At first they were friendly and then it became something more.

Azriel didn't wake up one day, realized that his brothers were mated to Elain's sisters and went: WAIT A MINUTE I WANT ONE. I would argue he showed interest in Elain since their first meet, just like Cassian showed interest in Nesta. However, Nesta and Cassian weren't in love for anyone else, differently from Elain and Azriel.

Also, Elain and Azriel are very much quieter in comparison, so... it makes sense that they needed more time to get closer and be romantic interested in each other.

But again: why bother to tell us both of them are moving on from their previous LI? Why tell us Azriel doesn't give up easily? Why tell us they are both good at keeping secrets and are hiding something?

SJM knew exactly what she was doing.

[ohthepurehorror]

How do you think Nurse, Wraith and Huntress would react to a survivor deciding one trial to just try their best to make the killer laugh? Just doing anything they can, no matter how stupid, to get even a chuckle

Omg this is my favorite ask so far hands down, I LOVE this idea. Please make these poor babies smile they’ve been through a lot. Also, I’m not sure if you had a specific survivor in mind for these so I just wrote it like it could be any of them (although in my mind it’s always a bunny Feng because they constantly make me laugh as killer)

Nurse, Wraith, and Huntress reacting to a survivor trying to make them laugh

Nurse:

The trial would start just like normal, she would be going gloomily about her killing duties when she heard a noise come from behind one of the trees on the Macmillan Estate.

Instinctively assuming it was a survivor trying to sneak around her, she blinks behind the tree and finds no survivor but instead some words etched into the ground: Bill smells like cheese!

Oh, well that’s… odd.

She hears a shuffle and looks up to see who she assumed was the survivor who wrote the interesting message hold a finger over their nose and use the other finger to waft away Bill’s supposed cheese stench.

Nurse can’t help but chuckle a little at this, the first utterance of laughter she’s had in as long as she can remember.

The survivor shoots a thumbs up and begins running as per usual.

Nurse begins to follow, but she silently appreciates the small interaction.

*I’m sorry Bill mains I just really feel like he has to smell like Cheese 😞

Wraith:

Wraith is very calm and collected killer, he had the wherewithal to never lose his composure in a trial. Sure he can get frustrated at times, especially after being chain flashlight stunned over and over, but he would never break his calm exterior.

So why then, right now, was he struggling to hold back a laugh at the scene before him?

One of the survivors had walked right into him just as he left his stealth form, which was a frequent occurrence always leading to either him striking or a chase, or both.

But this survivor just started… walking around him in a circle?

He was about to get the first blow on them when he hesitated because they didn’t run away like usual, which confused him to no end.

The survivor then began crouching while circling him and pointing in every direction like some sort of weird ritual.

The ridiculous nature of the situation had Wraith holding back laughter because what the hell was happening?

The survivor would stop suddenly and nod at him, to which he responded with a head tilt and reluctant nod back.

The survivor then ran off to which Wraith finally let out a small chuckle.

Well… I guess a small break in monotony can’t hurt every now and then right?

Huntress:

This trial had only just started but it had already been a frustrating one.

3 gens had already been completed within no time at all and Huntress was out of axes after attempting to chase down 3 survivors at once.

She was slightly relieved to finally stumble upon a locker so she could grab more axes, but was a little surprised to find the fourth survivor in it.

Sure, it was common for them to hide in the lockers, but this survivor didn’t scream or panic or anything like normal.

Instead they put a finger to their lips and said “Shhh we have to be quiet miss Huntress, there is a rabbit in the woods that will only come out if it thinks I’m not here”

Huntress was confused as hell.

A what?? A rabbit? Did they not realize where they were right now?

The serious expression on the survivor’s face almost made her let out a chuckle. Was the survivor being serious? Did they know that she was having a bad trial and were attempting to cheer her up?

Either way, Huntress closed the locker back and walked to the one on the other side. She wasn’t going to let them off the whole trial, but she’d let them have their chance at seeing that rabbit for now.

*okay yeah there’s probably not rabbits just running around trial grounds but I don’t care, sue me.

[50-percent-winchester-sister]

Never Do That Again

Request From: @fancat-not-fangirl

Request:  Can you write something where the sister reader gets hurt on a case bc she was protecting either Sam or Dean (like she pushed them out of the way or jumped in front of them or whatnot) and then they're super super worried and protective and frantic over her and they're also guilty for letting her come along on the case

Prompt: After begging and begging for the boys to let you in on the hunt, they eventually give in, only for you to get hurt during

Dean: 29

Sam: 25

Y/N: 18

Word Count: 3,268

MY FIRST REQUEST!! Ahh I feel like a true fanfic writer now!!! I hope you enjoy this fanfic!!

  "Dean, come on! At this point I'm begging!" You say flinging your arms up. You've been trying days (which felt like years) and Dean wont budge. You constantly asked Sam, and at which point, you bugged him so much he just gave you a "I don't care as long as Dean lets you," And after that, you had your mind set on bugging the hell out of Dean.

  You knew the hunt was harder than the simple salt n' burns that they let you come along with, this hunt required backup, which you 100% will be the backup for.

  "No Y/N, my answer will always be no, so there's no point in asking," Dean said to you in an irritated tone. 'day three of asking and hes already annoyed?' You thought to yourself. "But Dean, you know that if this turns sideways, you two will get hurt, it'll be easier on everyone if there was three people working this, I can help!" You reply, you know your right and nothing Dean will say will make you any less wrong.

  "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm not just going to let you." "Dean-" "Y/N, no"

  Just then Sam walks in and notices you and Dean barking at each other. You turn around and walk towards Sam and quickly clung onto his arm. "Sam said I can!" And just then, Sams entire soul left his body and .2 seconds later he defends himself so hard your head spins.

  "What? Y/N I never said that. I said that you can as long as Dean lets you." "Dean PLEASE, What if you guys get hurt, and I'm not there to help you guys? I get that something can happen but with the three of us, it'll be less likely!"

  "Dean shes got a point," Sam says looking a little defeated, "Shes been asking for days, if you keep saying no, there's going to be backlash"

  Dean wipes his hand over his face, looking increasingly irritated. "I swear if you get hurt, if I see blood on you and its yours, you're never hunting again, got it?" Dean asks you. "So I'm coming?"

  Dean looks over at Sam, who just shrugged at him, and he looks back at you, "Go pack up, we leave in an hour," Dean sighs. "Oh my god, yes! I swear you wont regret taking me" You respond, running to your room, "I better not," Dean yells back

____________________________________________

  An hour seems like 10 minutes to you, you hunted plenty of times with them, and sneakily by yourself, but none of the hunts were ever this intense. You go outside to see Sam and Dean waiting for you in the Impala.You get inside and apologize for taking so long, and Sam saying that it was alright and no harm was done.

  You, Sam and Dean roll up to the motel since it is already after dark and you're guessing Deans on high alert since you came along. You knew that Dean was going to be harder on you, but that just means you gotta show him how strong you are, even if you get hurt, you gotta suck it up and fight hard, make sure you get that smile that you love to get from him and Sam.

  Once you guys settle in and get ready for bed, you see Dean at the table on Sams laptop, you didn't mean to stare, it just sort of happened.

  You were thinking about every possible outcome, and you knew Dean was thinking the same thing. 'Will I get hurt? Will Sam and Dean get hurt!?'

  Sam looked over at you and noticed that you were staring and Dean for a minute that seemed like forever to him, and he smiled at himself.

____________________________________________

  You were the first one up, even before Sam, and he usually is up at 6:00am. it doesn't take long for Sam to wake up, "Why are you up so early?" he asks you. "Take a wild guess" you respond with a shit eating grin,. "Wake Dean up, I'm going to get breakfast," Sam says taking the car keys out of Dean jacket.

  Sam leaves and you look over at Dean and stare again, you shake your head lightly, 'no stop thinking that.' You walk over to him lightly smack his arm a couple times, "Dean wake up, Sams getting food, come on"

  Dean wakes up and looks over at you with the most softest eyes, "What?" you ask. "What time is it?" he asks in a deep, tired voice. "I don't know hold on" You reply, you walk over to the bed stand where your phone is, "Almost 7:30."

  "Did Sam wake you up?" He asks. "Nah I woke up myself" you say as you throw your phone on the bed, "You okay?" you ask him. You know hes gonna say I'm fine you know it for a fac-

  "I'm fine, are 'you' okay?" He asks

  'Knew it'

  "Oh yeah I'm good." You look over at Dean again and hes still in bed, but sitting up and looking at you. "Anyways what did you find out on Sams laptop last night?" "Three deaths this week, one two nights ago, and all three of them had hole marks behind their left ears and their brains are practically sucked out, I'm guessing its a-" "Wraith?" You cut him off.

  He looks over at you for a couple/few seconds before talking again. "Yeah, how'd you figure that out?" "Dean, I know how to research, not my first rodeo" you giggle after what you said.

  Ten minutes later Sam shows up with breakfast and you three eat while talking about what is about to happen.

  The hunt was going to last all day, the boys go all FBI, and you stay back and research and look around the crime scene. It was complete bullshit, you knew Dean was being protective but come on, you have a fake ID, might as well use it, but no, you knew he would make you stay behind.

  You are wearing your FBI suit just in case you were needed by the boys, you three are at the place where the last murder was, you three are speaking to the mother of the daughter who got killed by the wraith.

  "So Mrs.Luke, would there be any reason this happened, did she have any enemies that might have done this to her?" Sam asks. The way her mom looked at him didn't settle well with you. "No I don't think so, he was so well liked by everyone, she was perfect."

  "Ma'am, I noticed she tried to leave the house before she died, do you know where she was going to go at one in the morning?" you ask Mrs. Luke.

  "Well I- What does that have to do with anything?" She responds, clearly shes quite nervous. "Just answer the question ma'am," Dean quickly adds on.

  "Well I was thinking she was going to sneak over to a friends house or something, but now we'll never know..."

  'What is she hiding?' you ask yourself, 'Does she have something to do with all this?'

____________________________________________

  In the car you three are on the way to the park where the first murder happened. You thought to yourself that there was no way that a wraith can just kill someone out in the open, so it had to be at night where no one was in the park except them and their victim.

  You tell them your observation and with a long sigh you add, "Tonight at around two or three am, I'll come out here and just wait around for the wraith to come by"

  "Uh, no, hell no that ain't happening" Dean says like hes utterly offended that you'd even think about being bait. "But Dean-" "He's right Y/N, No way you are going to go out there alone, we'll figure something out," Sam says. Sam agreeing with Dean can be the most frustrating thing in the world and vise versa.

  "Guys think about it. First murder: 17 year old with long brown hair, Second murder: 20 year old with long brown hair, Third murder: 19 year old with long brown hair, The Fourth is exactly my description, 18 year old with long brown hair, that's me!"

  "Y/N, we said no" Sam and Dean say in unison. Dammit they piss you off so much sometimes.

____________________________________________

  Nightfall comes around and you three are in the motel, you. You had a plan set in your mind. 'Once they fully fall asleep I'll go out there and kill it myself, that way when they wake up, it'll already be dead before they wake up, perfect!' you think to yourself.

  It takes them a couple of hours to go to sleep since they decided to research for a little while, and that kinda of messed up your plan a little, but STILL!!! you already make up your mind and you're going no matter what

  They're finally asleep and thankfully you're quiet and your stealth is at max (thanks to training), and you quietly and quickly leave the motel room with the room key and the Impala's keys since you're the only one leaving.

  You drive to the park where the first murder happened. You hide your knife in your waistband and get out of the car. You then walk and stand in the middle of the park waiting for the wraith. 'Damn it's cold out' you think to yourself, "I should have brought a jacket.' After your statement you breath in and out and what came out was a frozen type of breath and it startled you to say the least. "Wait what the hell? A wraith doesn't have this type of ability"

  "No, honey they don't"

____________________________________________

Meanwhile back at the motel:

  "Dammit Dean, Y/N's gone" Sam says fast walking towards Dean. "Yeah she took the damn car too. You know Sam, Y/N's most likely in the damn park we were art earlier today, lets go" "With what car? Think before everything else Dean," Sam says. Sams right, you cant go into battle without some type of plan.

  "Sam, were the masters of stealing, we'll just take a car from the parking lot," Dean says as he shrugs.

  Sam and Dean roll up to the park and they see you talking to someone they don't know. "Son of a bitch, really? Come on Sammy"

____________________________________________

  "What the hell are you and mostly-" You cut yourself off to show her your blade, "Why the hell are you killing innocent people?" That....thing, begins to laugh, but you don't show any emotion but anger.

  "Honey, I cant be killed by a flimsy knife that 'that', and-" She gets shot. You turn around to see who shot her and you see one pissed off brother and one worry-full brother, (guess who). "and I cant be killed by gunshots either, sorry boys and girls."

  "Well you're one show tune son of a bitch aren't you?" Dean asks. You look at Dean, then at Sam and you see Sam mouthing you to pull back and stand behind them, and knowing you're already grounded for life, you defeated agree.

  "Three against one bitch, you're out numbered" Dean says pulling out his large KA1214. 'That's new,' you think to yourself and out of fight or flight response, you pull your knife out too.

  Sam whispers quiet enough so the thing won't hear him, but loud enough so you can. "Y/N, What the hell is that?" and you respond with "That's a vampire, but i assume its being controlled by a type of ghost"

  "Okay so everyone got their weapons? Fun, let me get mine out too and we can have some fun, huh?" The vampire says as she shows her teeth and pulls out a....'is that a Beretta M9? How uncommon' you think to yourself.

  "Bringing a gun to a knife fight? Really?" Sam asks "Why yes, as you see its a 90-10 ratio, I win and you three...well, at least you three will go down fighting, the one and only Cynthia Harness. lets play shall we? Here, I'll go first." Cynthia tries to shoot Dean but he ducks and runs fast towards her, he swings his knife., but she ducks and runs towards the other direction. Sam runs to catch up with her and you look back at Dean and silently say I'm sorry, and you run towards Sam and Cynthia.

  "Dammit Y/N, come back here!" Dean yells at you, but you don't comply. Deans staying back just in case there were any more and now its just you, Sam and Cynthia out in probably the middle of the woods behind the park.

  You hear two gunshots in front of you. 'Oh god, Sam' you think to yourself, 'what if he's already dead?' "SAAAAAM" You yell, as you're are running faster than you were before.

  Finally, you see Cynthia and 'oh thank god,' you see Sam, and he looks like hes okay! "Oh Its you again, hi!" Cynthia says with a big smile waving at you like shes your best friend. "Get the hell away from him" the venom in your voice is clearly visible. "Hmm? Oh him? No dear, you just stand there while I-" She cuts herself off and positions her gun to point at Sam's chest, "Just kill him in front of you, how does that sound?" Cynthia asks while laughing like its a damn game and shes destined to be the winner.

  "NO," you scream, you run toward sam and .1 milliseconds after she shoots you push sam and the bullet collides with your left leg. You give out a piercing scream as you fall to the floor and Dean comes from behind and chops off Cynthia's head and its rolls on the ground.

  "Y/N! Come on, Dean, let's take her to the car" Sam says has he manages to pick you up and you hold your arm over their shoulders, and you hop on one leg to the car. It was silent, but not as silent as it is in the car, It was deadly silent, A type of silent that was mentally and (for you) physically painful.

  "......Dean?" "Not a word until we get to the motel got it?" Dean says with a thick and dark voice. "Dean-" "I don't want to hear anything from you either Sam, no one talks until we got to the motel, okay? okay good" Dean says with the most pissed off look you've ever received from him.

  And so the long and crucifying 30 minute drive to the motel was silent added with you wincing, groaning and crying from the pain that bitch Cynthia gave you. Every now and then you look at Dean from the rear view mirror and vise versa with Sam, and Dean doesn't look back, he just looks at the road, but Sam looks back at you and sadly smiles and mouths, 'everything's going to be okay, just hold on, okay?' but you don't smile back.

____________________________________________

Meanwhile at the hotel:

  Sam and Dean help you out of the car and into the motel room. "You, sit and Sam, get the damn first aid kit, a wet towel, peroxide, and get me a beer," Dean says to you can Sam. You sit on the foot of your bed and once Dean got his beer and whatever else he needed, he sat next to you and Sam pulled up a chair and sat in front of you.

  "Leg," Dean says, and you pull your leg up on his lap (with the help of Sam of course), and he starts working on cleaning the blood, and stopping it from bleeding even more, and Sam gets ready to pull the bullet out and stitch your leg up.

  You only trust Sam right now to do the 'dangerous' tasks since Deans still very VERY mad at you, and you're a little afraid he'll kill you himself from sheer anger.

  "Y/N-" This time you cut Dean off. "Dean I know, I was being reckless back there, and I could have gotten myself killed, but-" "No Y/N, no buts about it, I knew we shouldn't have brung her, I knew this would happen, and its happened anyway"

  "Dean, I've almost gotten shot if it weren't for her," Sam adds. "Oh so what, you're on 'her' side? "Of course not Dean, I'm on no ones side, I'm just saying, give her a break, get angry after theirs a bullet out of her leg, alright?"

  Thankfully he agreed, and soon enough the bullet was out and you had stitches in your leg. Dean left a couple of hours ago doing god knows what, but Sam stayed with you and you two laid down and talked for a while

  "Don't let Dean get to you, believe it for not, he was just as worried as I was, we still are," Sam says, "Oh and for what its worth, thanks for getting in the way, getting shot in the chest is never a good way to go out." You and Sam both laugh at what he says.

  You begin to push yourself up and a shooting pain starts in your leg, and you hiss at the pain. "Fuck," that all that you can handle saying at the moment.

____________________________________________

  None of you guys slept that whole night. Dean came back a few hours later after Sam thanked you for jumping in front of him. It has to be about eight or nine am before Sam says out loud, "Alright, I'm getting breakfast, you two don't wait up," and leaves the room.

  Now, its just you and Dean. You on your bed, and him on his. You look at him again, and then you look at your hands again. You squeak out an "I'm sorry" to Dean and Dean looks at you.

   'I know you are," Dean says to you. He doesn't look as mad at you as he was earlier, but hes still on the defensive side.

  "I only did it so Sam wont get hurt..." You say looking at your hands for what it feels like the millionth time. "I know, and I'm proud, but you got hurt in the end Y/N," Dean says with worry in his eyes.

  "I know...It hurts like a bitch I'll tell you that," you say as you try to lift the mood. "You could have died Y/N, you cant-" He cuts himself off. "you cant do that to me, to Sam," his voice breaks a little. "Y/N, never do that again okay?"

  "....Dean I cant promise that. I was held at gun point you would jump in front of me to save me." You say with a quiet and small voice.

  "That's just it Y/N, never do what we do unless we tell you to, I swear you got your recklessness from me" You feel your shoulders relax after seeing a smirk from Dean. "I learned from the best" You tell Dean and he does a small laugh.

  Sam comes back a little while later and you three eat your breakfast and talk about from completely nothing to what other hunt you guys are thinking of doing. Of course you wont be able to hunt for a while since you can barely stand, but you can research like a son of a bitch, and hey, sometimes its nice to be backup, especially for the two boys that frustrate the hell out of you.

[boarix]

2020 Creator Wrap

2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works

I was tagged by @incognito-insomniac ! Thank you, daaarling! You’re a peach😊

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Whew! I’m gonna have to do a combo as I only managed to eke out three chapters of Wraith in the Ruins last year.

I will tag @lookbluesoup @theartofblossoming @its-sixxers @thenightmotherwrites @bluegrasskitty @mayihavethisdanse @daddyfuckinlonglegs @makkuromurasaki @oberlan @monsterboynyx @marvilus73 @of-devils-and-drawings @vaultgirl2077 @trekkie-in-space @so-i-did-this-thing @ghoulja @kimbureh @nuclearmu5hroom and literally anyone who reads this and wants to play. @ me an’ everything! As always, no obligation (and I apologize if you’ve been tagged already or if being tagged stresses you out. If the later, please let me know. I won’t be offended I promise. I care ‘bout ya!)  =^..^=

….

I posted my third Wandering Gardens piece, EARTHA early in the year. I’m pretty happy with the original but it can be difficult to find the right lighting for taking pictures. All my drawings are traditional and I used a combination of pencil, colored pencil, glitter pen and fine-point Sharpie for EARTHA.

….

In April I posted chapter 18 of Wraith in the Ruins, Lighthouse:

Harkness yawned and waved at her by way of greeting. He was sitting in an office chair with his feet up on the desk of one of the former Flynn brothers. “Those are some fancy duds there, General Dragon-Lady.”

She removed the helm and wrinkled her nose at him, “Nice. You two just get here?”

“Nope.” Groaning, he stood, stretched and removed a pot of steaming water from a hotplate, “We headed out from Goodneighbor as soon as I got back. Sun called ferals to him the entire way; it was pretty surreal.” He waved a mug at her, “Tea?”

“Actually, yes, thanks.” She accepted the mug and idly played with the steeper. “You said he called to them?”

“Not very many and not out loud. He says that when you’re done, he will lead them to the Glowing Sea.”

“Like a Pied Piper, huh?”

“I actually think I know that reference.”

“As do I. And I approve.”

Sun of Atom swept into the room with a floating grace that left Wraith green with envy. Almost immediately the prickling sensation returned and she outwardly flinched away from the ghoul.

“Apologies, Mother’s Chosen One; I’ll turn down my intensity.” He smiled warmly at her, “It is extremely gratifying to learn that you are so receptive. Perhaps this training will go swiftly and we each can return to our chosen paths.”

….

In August I posted chapter 19, Harbinger:

“Tch,” They waved a hand dismissingly, “their light has returned to Atom. The meat sack is unimportant. Besides, it’s hot and wet out here and I have a particular loathing for swamp ass.”

As Harkness did his best to mend himself he could feel the ghoul watching him. It annoyed the shit out of him, “What makes you think I’m going to answer any of your fucking…”

“Did you ever ask him?” Their lip curled in amusement, “Sun. Did you ever ask him about your light? Or, did you assume that you must have one. After all you are alive, right?” Their voice deepened and came as the lowest of whispers, “Are you alive, Harkness?”

“I will not play, Infamy.” His eyes mirrored the iron in his voice.

“You’ll play. After all, you’ve curiosity of your own to quench.” They brought a hand up under their chin, propped their arm on a knee and bat their eyes at him, “Don’t you want to know how I knew where you were? Hmmm? Don’t you want to know ‘why now’?”

“No. I figure… you heard Sunny… or one of you did. Why are you so interested in Wraith? What is she the Harbinger of?”

They made an indelicate noise and waved a hand dismissively, “It’s not her I’m interested in any longer. I imagine she was the Harbinger of Death for Sun of Atom…”

“NO!” Furious, Harkness pound his fist on the ground, “You fucking… uncaring monster! It can’t be as simple…”

“Wraith is up to Atom. Whether or not she’s ‘The Harbinger’ is up to the Mother of the Fog and I don’t pretend to know their Holy Plan. And I’d be careful thrashing about and opening your wounds, brother; you’ve only got so much of that red fluid left.”

“Red fluid?! It’s blood, you fuck! I am alive and I have blood!”

….

In late November I posted chapter 20, Call My Name:

Tipped on its side, the trailer’s interior was narrow but devoid of monsters. Wraith gently lay Deacon down atop the scattered shipping tubs and glanced around for an additional light source to supplement her Pip-Boy, “Keep pressure on it, I’m going to hop back and grab some of those lanterns…” Once she returned she pulled shut the truck’s cargo door and got out her knife. However, when she turned back to Deacon he was nowhere to be seen. “Did you just… are you using a Stealth Boy?!”

“I don’t want you t’ cut my jeans!”

Blinking rapidly, she looked down at her combat knife and then back up to where his voice came from, “Deacon… you might bleed out! I’ll make you new pants!”

“Imma try to get out… OW! Huuurrgn… of them…” Failing, he phased back into view with a miserable expression on his face.

“There’s nothing wrong with showing a little leg. Or… a lot… damn, Deacon.” She made an attempt to school the worry from her face as she worked, “Looks like you’ll need to wear skirts for a while.”

“I have the calves for it.”

She couldn’t disagree, “Actually, you have better legs then me. Turn a little more on your side…”

“Why don’t you like the way you look? I think you’re pretty.”

“Well, I think you’re pretty too, Deacon. So I’ll throw that right back at you; why do you want to change your face again? Seems a more… dramatic solution than sticking on a false mustache. What’s th’ matter? Can’t grow facial hair?”

….

On the same day I posted the fourth of my Wandering Gardens, HaRDy (with Lanny and Leonard the radstag). This was the first time I used actual wasteland fauna: fever blossom, blight, glowing mushrooms, the giant lichen (non-harvestable) found near the Abandoned Shack/Federal Supply Cache 84NE, brain fungus, and wild gourd/ash blossom. This piece took me months to do and I’m pretty happy with the level of detail I was able to achieve. I strongly encourage you to zoom in on any of my robot pieces. Also, I was listening to the Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack around the time I was working on this so I threw in a Mean Green tagalong.

Thanks again for the tag @incognito-insomniac! =^..^=

[vultures-and-scavengers]

pathways

in one lifetime, miyala naida becomes darth occlus, forcewalker, dragonslayer. she learns to swallow ghosts and later she learns to swallow souls and she is the scourge of the empire- she falls in love with a jedi who is more soldier than scholar and she rips and tears at the empire she had long hated but been unable to break her chains to.

in another she is a jedi. she is a wraith of herself in a shadow cast bya bright and prodigious twin sister. she is small and untalented with telekinesis and generally considered weak- but the shadows see something in her and she adapts so well to that penumbra that shadows operate within. she adapts so well they learn to ignore her resentment, her nightly escape attempts to the rest of coruscant, her card-playing, and her foul mouth. she walks away from the jedi, too. again she falls in love with a man who is more soldier than scholar, but she is already free- and when she pulls him out of the wreckage of a cruiser, she frees him too.

her third time around is so similar to her second- but she only meets the man in passing once or twice after her departure from the order. she does not pull him from the wreckage, and she watches the empire rise alone. she has always hated empires. but there is a woman who is shackled to this empire, and something in miyala (her name is seku, now, but she will always be miyala at her core) tugs. she falls in love with a cruel and wretched soul, and when the woman dies on a planet shrouded in superstition, miyala grieves.

in her fourth lifetime, she was neither jedi nor sith. she was mandalorian. she was one of a dozen survivors of the ancient twi’lek clan, baat’aran. she hides with her clan’s house, on a far flung planet, and she learns to farm. but she was not meant to keep her feet on the ground, and she puts her armor in the closet and exchanges them for a smuggler’s jacket and boots. the empire is not kind to mandalorians, and she welds the closet shut. maybe she’s running away, but sometimes she thinks that one thing that will never change about her is that she walks away. that she survives. and then one day she is the last of baat’aran. she is alone.

her fifth life- she is an agent of the empire. knives and stealth generators don’t explain her knack for knowing when to dodge or what hunches to follow, and they certainly don’t explain staring through ray shields at a defeated sith lord. she does not get orders to walk away- she already has. she does not get inserted into koth’s squad. no, she finds havoc, and begs for her life. there are holes in her memories. she does not trust the empire. the commander of havoc squad- he is more soldier than scholar, and its almost like she’s met him before. she makes a cot in the storage bay. a year later she sleeps in his room. cipher agents do not belong on havoc squad, but they manage.

her sixth- she is the barsen’thor. she knows she has done this before. the wheel of fate turns, and she keeps an eye out for a man with bitter eyes and burdened shoulders, who is more soldier than scholar. she has always had a talent for shields, and her path to power only increases that power. her first life she learned to tear souls from bodies. this time she learns how to keep them in their bodies. she lands on a pirate planet to get labelled a pirate herself, and she wants to laugh- she’s been a pirate before, if not in this lifetime. she runs into the lord wrath- and his deep brown eyes (not yellow, never yellow) match the ones in her dreams. it is a scandal that gives the council migraines, but he is tired of serving the empire, and the council is not fool enough to tell the lord wrath he cannot accompany his wife on combat missions.

her seventh- she does not remember her previous paths. she has no twin to cast a shadow over her time at the temple. she remains a shadow during the war. she is partnered to an arc trooper more soldier than scholar. they have known each other for lifetimes. they have known each other for 8 months when she unexpectedly falls pregnant. she walks away from the order (her home, her family), and feels a sense of rightness- as if she was always meant to walk away from the order. their daughter is two weeks old at the siege of mandalore. her lover fakes his death on mandalore and while a cruiser crashes a sector away, he is home with her and their child.

[knightsofrepentance]

The Knights of Repentance Are Now Recruiting!

The <Knights of Repentance> are a faction of heroes who have banded together to preserve innocent lives and lessen the casualties of those fighting in this war. We are dedicated to missions in reconnaissance, search and rescue, research and artifact hunting, and more.

Founded by Commander Seaandra Sunblade shortly after the Burning of Teldrassil, the Knights had established themselves as an active, background force, going against enemy lines and behind both factions in an attempt to rescue wounded, and civilians endangered. 

To the public, the Knights were only known as a search and rescue organization and mercenaries, but with the Fourth War finally over, and the Banshee Queen abandoning the Horde, the Knights have now begun to step out of the shadows, and make a more public presence.

     “We are the defenders of the future.”

KoR is opening up recruitment once more! We’re a casual, Horde-side guild with both In-Game and Discord RP events!

We have a massive Guild Discord server where a majority of our announcements and social goings occur, and a sister server dedicated primarily to Discord RP events, both equipped with the Tupperbox bot to create custom profiles for your characters.

Joining KoR includes:

Access to our Discord server with a level 1 boost

Custom character stats with D20 bonuses

Your own custom channel to post writing snippets of your character for all to read

Custom combat abilities with our extensive system

The opportunity to join a specific division

How to Apply:

Fill out an application on our website KnightsOfRepentance.Shivtr.Com! After review and approval, you’ll gain access to our Discord server, and be able to attend any event for promotions!

After your first mission as a Knight, you’ll be eligible for promotion to one of our four divisions: Dragoon, Wraith, Erudite or Seraph. 

More information on our ranks and divisions below!

   Ranks and Divisions:

There are two general ranks that you begin with upon joining the Knights before you can advance to a special role.

Initiate - When you first join, you will be granted the rank of Initiate. You cannot progress further until you have: 1) Completed the Application on our website, and 2) Attended a general training session held at Recompense Village on Sundays. Once both of these steps are completed and you pass the session, you will earn the rank:

Knight - The standard IC rank that officially lists you as a member of the Knights of Repentance, dedicated to the cause of protecting the innocent and Azeroth’s future. Knights can attend all events and earn XP per session, which will allow them to purchase bonus items from the Quartermaster.

   Special Ranks:

There are four ranks each Knight can take on depending on their skillsets and work to fit in with the organization more efficiently. Each rank reads:

Dragoon - The primary combatants and heavy hitters of the Knights. Warriors, paladins, hunters, martial artists – anyone capable of holding a weapon to the enemy and bringing them to their knees are eligible to become a Dragoon, and bolster the might of the Knights.

Wraith - The recon and stealth persons of the Knights. Wraiths are responsible for incognito missions and intel extraction without detection, to move as silent as a shadow, and serve as the eyes and ears for the Knights, securing a sure victory with their deadly tact.

Erudite - The scholars, archivists and researchers of the Knights. Knowledge is power, and with the enlightenment of the finds of relics and other research and a drive to find answers, an Erudite can bring insight and understanding of the world we must preserve.

Seraph - The healers and medics for the Knights. Be you a caster of the Light, one with nature, or simply knowledgeable in the arts of first aid and medical practices, you have the power of saving a life and giving the wounded a second chance.

[segadores-y-soldados]

Source Things I found noteworthy, going from the first page to the last:

Page 1: Antonio’s profile.

Not much has changed here, but keep an eye out for any “Giordani” related content in Rialto or other maps.

Page 2: The memorandum

I’m a bit confused by the fact that Antonio’s “real surname” is apparently still redacted?  I’m not sure what this could tell us - there are no other Italian characters (with names) in Overwatch besides “Vialli” (who is dead after “Masquerade” occurs in the present day).  So unless Antonio’s real surname is “Vialli” or “Botruvio” (the surname of the Omnic artist being featured in the art gallery), I’m not really sure who or what this is “setting up” for?

People on reddit are suggesting that “Agent [redacted] also secured a position” is implying that a fifth agent was involved in the set up for this particular mission.  I’m not 100% sold on this.  The full paragraph is actually focused on Gérard’s intelligence gathering prior to the explosion in Rome (the Retribution comic).  In theory, this Agent would have been gathering intelligence for Gérard before the comic occurs.

Page 3: The Talon operatives

Here we go. The “meat” of these memos, in my opinion.

The Enforcers “appear to possess genetic and cybernetic augmentation.”

The Assassins “possess enhanced speed, stealth, and balance” and have movements that are “near impossible to track.”

The Snipers are “equipped with top-end military optics and targeting systems.”  This is very likely the same technology (or a prototype) of Widowmaker’s Infrasight headgear.

The Heavy Assault tanks are “the products of excessive genetic engineering.”

The description for the Assassins are very similar to the original description of the Soldier Enhancement Program:

Military scientists shaped Morrison and other inductees into the perfect soldiers, blessed with superhuman speed, strength, and agility. 

(source) This is actually repeated consistently throughout Soldier: 76′s Hero Profile, background, and related canon content:

One of the guards, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that the assailant possessed speed and strength beyond anything "a normal person" should be capable of. "He was a professional," the guard also said. "Confident. Surgical. Had all the hallmarks of someone with advanced military training." (source)

While his true identity remains a mystery, he is believed to have been trained as a member of the American "soldier enhancement program." He possesses physical capabilities exceeding those of a conventional soldier's, as well as other augmentations that make him a peerless combatant. (source)

This aligns with the implication that present-day Talon (after the events of “Masquerade”) has possibly succeeded in mass-producing modified Heavy Pulse Rifles, of which Soldier: 76 stole an “experimental” version from a Helix-guarded Watchpoint.

Moreover, two of the Talon paramilitary operatives directly have the words “genetic” in their descriptions.  One of them uses the word “enhanced” (which is “in-universe terminology” for “genetic modifications”).  And the fourth operative type - the Snipers - use Shadow Step/Wraith, which we have already seen.

There is 

one character 

who is 1) a geneticist with 2) access to Gabriel Reyes’ biodata and 3) possesses the technical skill to recreate that biodata into other abilities and “utilize” them on other people who 4) is directly associate with Talon in the present-day and 5) is implied to have been working for Talon from the moment she joined Blackwatch.

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/172909435620/long-reasons-not-to-trust-moira-in-retribution Moira is implicated as being involved in Talon at the time of Retribution not only because of the Snipers’ abilities, but also because all four Talon minibosses are either stated to possess “genetic” engineering or modifications, or are implied to possess “enhanced” genetic modifications.

People keep asking “Why would Moira betray Blackwatch?  They’re funding her.”

The issue isn’t directly one of funding.

The issue is that Moira wants to do research on human test subjects without restrictions, safety, or “red tape.”

And Talon will let her do that without consequence.

With full funding and full support.

With a literal army as “test subjects.”

Moira doesn’t care if Antonio dies, or Gabriel dies, or anyone dies.  She just wants to “experiment” by watching how her “test subjects” do in a “real battle” against a “real enhanced soldier.”

And here’s the thing -

All her “test subjects” die.

They’re “failures.”

So Talon has to “go back to the drawing board” and try again.

And so they do.

[dapperkobold]

Warframe: Quick Equip Guide (MR 9)

Having recently hit MR 9 in Warframe, I’ve used quite a number of frames and weapons, not all of which are equal. Warframe could likely spend an entire major update dedicated to re-balancing and still be adorably imbalanced. So, if anyone does read my review and decides to pick up the game, here’s what I’ve ranked to max and whether I think it’s worth messing with.

There ARE bad weapons in Warframe. But, as I went over in my musings on the Gorgon, I don’t think that a weapon is bad just because it’s a little funky. A weapon must instead make the price of fixing the funkiness too high or even completely impossible. So, I’m going to rate the equipment here in terms of the FUN I had.

Great is the best, Fun is that I had fun but it’s nothing amazing, Okay is pretty neutral, Meh is that I disliked it a little and Bad is that I honestly do think it’s a bad weapon (And likely not worth your time)

Now, I didn’t get all these entirely through gameplay, I admit, so it’s possible that grinding for some of these will make it not worth it, but I figure I might was well mention all of them. How much fun does a slot and doubled mod capacity translate to?

ATTENTION: There have been some updates since this list was made! Some MR requirements have changed (some things may be harder to use to replace your starting gun now) and a lot of things have received buffs (including the gorgon, go figure) so some of the details listed my be inaccurate, but the overall thoughts should still be the same.

Warframes

Excalibur: A solid starter choice, but after getting enough mods that you can use the fourth ability on a regular basis there’s little need for anything else. However, if you chose a different starter you may have something more solid by the time you get to where you can unlock Excalibur. Fun.

Frost Prime: Frost in general seems like a must-have on the Warframe lineup. Freeze has limited usage, but all his other powers have solid niches and the Snow Globe is honestly as good as people say it is. Frost is the difference between a easy excavation mission and a long, stressful excavation mission. Great.

Ivara: Completely cheeses spy missions. Even if Ivara’s powers were just her four quiver arrows, I wouldn’t be too disappointed. In addition, her innate radar is the kind of thing you don’t know you need until you have it. Her pickpocketing, stealth, and Artemis Bow is just icing. Also, using navigator with arrows is fun. Using navigator with high explosives is hilarious. Great.

Limbo: Not for the faint of temperment, Limbo is the kind of Warframe that rewards practice and investment exponentially. Good powers, unique mechanics, some amount of innate energy management, put a reactor on this bad boy, look up some guides, and be a warrior from outside space and time. Great.

Mesa: Bullet bullet gun, my biggest hurdle with her has been ability duration. Keep in mind she’s a bit of a glass cannon, but other than that she’s a great frame. Fun.

Nezha: A frame I have very little experience with, but I think there’s some good times on the horizon. Abilities are a unique mix that are delightful, a mix of support and damage. He’ll take a little getting used to (and a clan to get the blueprints from) but if you want to try the fire boy out I say go for it! Fun.

Nidus: Hooboy, this guy deserves his spot as maybe one of the most OP Frames in the game. Four really good powers, innate energy management, high health and regeneration, this guy has it all. And it’s not just that he’s OP, but he’s also honestly fun to play. A challenge? Maybe not so much, but when the chips are down there’s few situations where you don’t want Nidus. Great.

Rhino: Here’s one situation where I can tell that it’s my personal taste shaping my opinion more than actual fact. This man is a train, his ability set is really good, his survivability is really good, and I just don’t like him as much for some reason I’m not sure of. I put him at Okay, but a mix of his early-game location and solid ability means that he’s definitely worth picking up when you’re starting out.

Trinity: Welcome to Warframe: the medic heals people by killing people. Really, Trinity is a good frame with good abilities that can be effective solo as much as in a group. The only problem is that she’s kind of ugly. Stick to less saturated colors, and if you feel serious grab the Strega skin. Great.

Primary Weapons:

Attica: Not a lot to say. It was fairly effective, even if the projectile drop was annoying, but I didn’t feel a need to keep it around. Technically automatic fire, but slow enough that it didn’t work very well. Okay.

Dex Sybaris: As someone with a slightly irrational disliking for burst weapons, the fact that I like Dex Sybaris at all says a lot. It’s a fine precision weapon and likely the best Warframe anniversary present item. Great.

Dread: The Stalker’s pointy-stick-launcher is really good. It’s silent, has no projectile drop, good stats, and it’s easier to get than any prime weapon. The only downside is that it’s impossible to make it look good in any color scheme other than the default one. Great.

Gorgon: I wrote an entire ramble about this The spool-up time is too long, the ammo economy is too bad, and the kick is just too strong to use. Bad.

Grakata: I picked this up as a replacement for my starter gun and it was pretty good. Fun.

Hek: By default it’s a good shotgun with low magazine size. Okay. With the syndicate mod it does hilarious amounts of damage, effectively becoming a cone weapon, and is one of the best shotguns in the game. Great.

Hema: Eh, the mechanics of this weapon really are more important than the sheer damage or the fact it’s a burst weapon. You reload, you lose health. You score headshots, you get health. As long as you can score enough headshots you will be fine, but at that point it’s a little easy. Fun.

Ignis Wraith: A terrifyingly effective flamethrower, currently my go-to weapon for when I’m being serious. Not sure where to get it anymore, I admit. Great if you can get it.

Karak: A solid grineer assault rifle. Might be a good option to swap out your starter weapon for, but I could feel it falling behind at higher levels. Okay.

Latron: A fairly rapid fire precision weapon. Not glamorous, but it’s cheap and it works. Fun.

Miter: It fires giant spinning sawblades. What more do you want? When charged it punches through thin walls. When not charged it can bounce off of things. The wide projectile can score multiple kills per shot. It’s odd to get used to, but it’s still big fun. Great.

Penta: Now, explosives in this game are kind of touchy. You take full self-damage, so if you’re not careful they can end you FAST. But the Penta, see, only explodes when you tell it to. This makes it either a really good grenade launcher or (with the right mod) a sticky bomb launcher. Use with Ivara for maximum shenanigans. Great.

Rubico: Since the recent sniper re-work, sniper weapons in general have been good. Nothing really stands out about the Rubico, it’s just effective. Fun.

Soma Prime: Well, it’s not the most complex of weapons, but it is without a doubt brutally efficient. Sometimes you just want to shoot someone in the face with lots of bullets. Great.

Supra: Eh, the sheer amount of bullets may not be as impressive as soma prime, but it still works. Personally I’m experimenting on the viability of it as a status weapon using the syndicate mod, but even just in terms of sheer bullets it works well. Fun.

Vectis: Has become my favorite sniper rifle. Sure, there’s fine details that could be argued over, but who cares? It feels less like a one-shot rifle and more like it has a bottomless magazine. Maybe it just makes me nostalgic for shooters before clip mechanics, but I enjoy it a lot and it works well. Great.

Vulkar: Another sniper Rifle, works well. It seems strange to me to have a status-focused sniper rifle, since if the status matters the target didn’t die in one hit, the entire point of sniper rifles. Eh, whatever. Fun.

Secondary Weapons

Cestra: This was mentioned in the Gorgon post, it has a spool-up time and lackluster stats but I like it. Fun. Maybe don’t stick with it, but level it up on the way to the Dual Cestra.

Dex Furis: Eh. It’s a wonderful early-game weapon, no doubt, but I didn’t keep it around. Get it free, especially if you’re new to the game, and use it until you get something that fills the same niche but better. Meh.

Dual Cestra: It’s the Cestra. But better. And it’s still Fun.

Lex: Let’s not mince words: the starter secondary weapons are bad. Buy a Lex as soon as you can and love it. It’s a quality precision weapon, and solid enough to keep you company into the endgame. Great.

Mk-1 Kunai: Speak of the devil and you will find in on your hip. I know that the proper Kunai has better stats, but the Mk-1 rubbed me the wrong way enough that I have no intent of getting the full version. The way that you throw means that the trajectory varies, when standing behind cover about half the shots will hit the cover, the arcing is just a bother (I have a far better time shooting people out of cover with hitscan weapons than arcing ones) and even the full version does not have stats to make up for all this. Bad.

Stug: This is a very nice weapon. It fires globs of corrosive goo that deal damage over time and then explode. It can be fired full-auto or charged with the secondary fire, and it’s never done self-damage to me. Is it a gimmick weapon? Very much so! But you know what? It’s a gimmick weapon that works. Level it, upgrade it, love it. Great.

Talons: This is what it takes for me to forgive the wonky throwing on the Kunai! They’re bombs that stick where you hit and you can detonate them whenever you want. They’re effective and reliable. Use with Ivara for more laughs. Great.

Twin Grakatas: They do large amounts of damage very, very fast. It’s just that simple. I can’t fault their effectiveness, but I can fault their ammo economy. If you have a keen eye for sheer damage output, you’ll like these, but I find myself keeping these on the backburner more and more. Fun.

Twin Gremlins: Eh... they work. if you’re farming for the Miter or Trinity you’ll likely get the blurprints so there’s no reason to avoid them, but they just don’t catch my attention like other weapons do. Others have plenty of good to say, so maybe you’ll appreciate them more. Okay.

Melee Weapons

Dex Dakra: I lucked out and got these to replace my starter weapon, and they work fine for that! I don’t feel much need to go back to them, but hey. Fun.

Furax: Oh cripes the Furax. I only leveled these things because they were a component for the Knux and part of me wishes I didn’t. They’re supposed to be like power fists, but the low damage, slow speed, short range, and bad sound effects make them feel like they’re specifically taking power from your strikes instead of adding it. I’m not touching these again until someone goes in and turns the batteries around. Bad.

Galatine: giant sword is giant and also effective. It really is that easy! Fun!

Heat Sword: I don’t know how to get this to do heat damage. Slam attack or something? I don’t care, you get it free from an early quest but don’t expect to get a lot out of it. Bad.

Hirudo: Okay, THIS makes you feel awesome. Punch and kick your enemy into oblivion, do good damage, and get healing every time you crit. It’s not as good as it sounds, it’s BETTER. It’s tons of fun and is hilarious to use with a cape to make you look like some kind of anime character. Great.

Lacera: Ooh, this one is hit and miss with me. I don’t like the whip-sword animations, but as a status weapon it’s second to none. I’d say to try it out if you have a chance. If you like the animations and stances you’re likely to have a great time, but for me I keep it around in case I ever expect to need to strip armor. Fun.

Lecta: Eh, it works and has a fine status chance. Not a lot to say, really. If anything it’s told me I like the whip animations so I should consider buying a better whip. Okay.

Mk-1 Bo: the only starter weapon I enjoyed leveling up, but mainly because I didn’t have any other options. Literally, I got this thing to 30 before I got a second melee weapon. Now that I have options I just don’t care. Meh.

Scindo Prime: It’s a really good axe! Big, too! Brutal but effective! I even use the Manticore skin. That lowers its swing speed but increases its damage, and I almost never swing it more than once in a row anyway so I’ll happily take it! Great.

Companions

Taxon (and Artax): Taxon is basically your starter sentinel, and you know what? I like it. It’s a good one. It improves your shield and slows down your enemies. Fun.

Helminth Charger: Whooos a good abmonination against nature? Who’s a good girl? It you! Do you want to go knock over some enemies? You do, don’t ya! You can run them right over! Or you can impale them and drag them to you! I see you impale an enemy, and I say to myself, ‘that enemy is so dead!’ You’re so good at what you do! You’re a good puppy you are!!!!!!!! Great.

Other Notes

Arcwing stuff... I just haven’t leveled any to 30. that said, I have decided that I don’t like the default weapons. If you’re like me and don’t like the Arcwing default weapons, get a clan, go to the chem lab, and grab the Grattler and the Knux. Near as I can tell they’re the only arcwing weapons you don’t need to jump through syndicate hoops to get.

Also I never leveled up the Mk-1 Braton I didn’t like it. 

Currently in progress I have Octavia (who is looking fun, if a bit gimmicky), the Argonak (Which is looking like a good marksman rifle/assault rifle), the Lex Prime (which is overkill in most situations and almost overkill in the rest of them), and the Azima (which even without the gimmick is a solid full-auto pistol.)

[grimdarktales]

Finally finished with this kitbash I think! Introducing Bounty Requisition Specialist Kroehner 76u, a maximum-tier asset for Arch Reclamator Kryptus Holt of Stygies VIII. He is a “counts as” vindicare assassin on the table. I tried to import meaning in all the components of this conversion: the insanely cumbersome rifle is being held aloft by three cybernetically augmented arms, as well as gravitic stabilizers on the legs to assist in firing and recoil compensation, as well as a cornucopia of multi-spectrum and trajectory predicting optics (the irreducible 2+ to hit rule and spy mask). The wraith head on the pauldron is a cannibalized bit of Necron tech that offers him a phasic shield (the dodge rule). His massive specialized rifle has two barrels, one which hits the target nanoseconds before the primary anti-material round and disrupts any energy fields protecting the target (ignoring invulnerable saves). A fourth and fifth arm carry a highly specialized pistol with the same elements as the oversized rifle and a horrific transonic blade (exitus pistol and the vindicare’s knife). And the small bits of fabric are a deplorable chameleonic nanoskin that allows him to blend in better with his surroundings (the stealth suit). All in all I’m pretty happy with this guy! What do you guys think? 😬 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxljjucntaj/?igshid=1g30jne817yvi

[joshuajacksonlyblog]

Battle of the Privacycoins: Verge Offers Little Privacy and Nothing Unique

Based on blockchain technology, most cryptocurrencies have an open and public ledger. While this is required for these systems to work, it comes with a significant downside: Privacy is often quite limited. Government agencies, analytics companies and other interested parties — let’s call them “spies” — have ways to analyze the public blockchains and peer-to-peer networks of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, to cluster addresses and tie them to IP addresses or other identifying information.

Unsatisfied with Bitcoin’s privacy features, several cryptocurrency projects have, over the years, launched with the specific goal to improve on them. And not without success. Several of these privacycoins are among the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market today.

However, as detailed in this month’s cover story, Bitcoin’s privacy features have recently seen significant improvements as well and are set to further improve over the next months and years. This miniseries will compare different privacycoins to the privacy offered by Bitcoin.

In part 3: Verge

Background

Verge (XVG) was originally launched in 2014 as “Dogecoin Dark” by Justin Sunerok, who is still lead developer of the project today. To cultivate a more serious image, the project rebranded to “Verge” in 2016. As a codebase fork of Dogecoin, its base protocol is similar to Bitcoin in many ways. (Dogecoin was a codebase fork of Litecoin, which was a codebase fork of Bitcoin.)

Verge has been in the news several times over the past year, most notoriously because the coin was successfully 51%-attacked on multiple occasions. But Verge is probably best known for its partnership with major porn site Pornhub, which made headlines all over the crypto media and beyond.

At the time of writing, Verge (XVG) claims the 39th spot on altcoin market cap lists, down from a top-25 spot earlier this year. This makes it the fourth (and last) privacy-focused altcoin in the market cap top 50, after Monero, Dash and Zcash.

Privacy

According to the subtitle of the the Verge “Black Paper,” which describes the project, Verge is “the most privacy focused cryptocurrency.” However, even the Verge project leaders themselves appear to be a bit more equivocal on this point. Describing (what seems to refer to) Monero as “too private,” the Verge Currency Beginner’s Guide written and published by Verge Currency Core members instead argues that privacy should be optional.

This optionality is represented by Verge’s “Wraith protocol.” The Wraith protocol would let users choose whether they want to conduct a regular transaction (like a normal Bitcoin transaction) or a RingCT transaction, similar to Monero. RingCT transactions include “decoy” coins in transactions to obfuscate which coin is really being spent and also hides the amounts involved in a transaction for everyone but the payer and payee.

However, RingCT transactions have actually not yet been implemented at this point in time. As such, Verge users can only make regular transactions.

What has been implemented are optional stealth addresses. Stealth addresses are perhaps best understood as cryptographic puzzles. They essentially allow the sender of XVG to generate a brand new Verge address to send the XVG to, which can then be claimed by the owner (and only by the owner) of the stealth address. The main benefits are that several Verge addresses can be generated from the same stealth address and that the stealth address cannot be linked to the actual addresses on the blockchain by anyone but the payer and the payee. This means that the stealth address can be posted online, perhaps as a donation address, without the user needing to worry about his privacy.

But Verge’s main privacy offering is probably a very different type of privacy: privacy on the peer-to-peer network layer.

The peer-to-peer network, of course, is where nodes transmit and relay all transactions and blocks to one another. Unfortunately, this network can be spied on, specifically by deploying nodes to track the data it receives from other nodes. If done right, this information can be used to figure out where certain transactions originated. If spies can link this originating node to an IP address, they’ve gone a long way toward de-anonymizing the creator of a transaction.

Verge counters peer-to-peer network analysis by having nodes and wallets communicate through Tor. By transmitting their transactions through the privacy-preserving, onion routing network, Verge users escape the prying eye of the spy. Tor is integrated into different Verge wallets by default, even including a mobile wallet for Android.

Bitcoin

Since RingCT isn’t delivered yet, the only privacy features offered by Verge today are stealth addresses and Tor.

Of these, only stealth addresses counter blockchain analysis — to some extent. This is a good feature, especially for some specific use cases (like donation addresses). But it is also a bit limited. Simply generating a new (regular) address for each payment (which is standard in many Bitcoin wallets and also possible on Verge) and not sharing this address with anyone but the payer (which shouldn’t be too difficult) offers similar privacy in most cases. Further, stealth addresses are also available for Bitcoin (via Samourai Wallet).

As such, Verge’s only real differentiator would have to be Tor integration. This is a well-established solutions to counter network analysis, and the fact that Verge offers it by default is good from a privacy standpoint — though Tor overhead can slow the network down quite a bit.

However, Verge isn’t really unique in this regard either. Bitcoin can also be used over Tor, as can other cryptocurrencies. Granted, this does sometimes require some technical expertise, which not everyone has. Verge offers a more user-friendly experience in this regard.

Bitcoin is also likely to adopt Dandelion, a recent proposal to counter network analysis. This solution doesn’t encrypt all network traffic like Tor does, but it uses a clever trick to obfuscate the source of transactions that goes a long way to achieve the same goal with much less overhead. That said, Dandelion is not implemented yet.

The much bigger problem for Verge is that network analysis is only one strategy to de-anonymize cryptocurrency users. And it’s almost certainly not the main one: blockchain analysis probably offers spies much more de-anonymizing data. As long as some addresses can be linked to real-world identities, address clustering tools can go a long way toward breaking all user privacy. In a world where a large chunk of all transactions are to and from KYC/AML compliant exchanges, protecting privacy on the peer-to-peer network alone probably doesn’t achieve much at all.

Thus, at least until RingCT is implemented, Verge can not reasonably be considered a privacycoin on par with Monero, Zcash or even Bitcoin — if it can be considered a privacycoin in the first place. It is definitely not “the most privacy focused cryptocurrency.”

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

from Cryptocracken Tumblr https://ift.tt/2NmwZjL via IFTTT

[anitabyars]

CHAPTER ONE London Harbor, July 1817 Only three steps. Only three steps separated him from the map. It was there, laying on the rickety wooden table in the captain’s stateroom aboard a ship aptly named Le Secret Francais. The only sound in the cramped space was his own breathing. Sweat beaded on his brow. He’d come this far. Braved the murky, cold water, swam out to the ship moored at the London docks. Climbed aboard silent as a wraith, dressed all in black. Wrung out his clothing to keep it from dripping so there wouldn’t be a trail. Managed to steal into the captain’s quarters as the man slept, and now, now only three steps remained between him and the priceless map. One water droplet fell to the wooden plank floor like a hammer against steel. The sound of his breath echoed to a crescendo. The blood pounding in his head became a distracting whirring noise. One step forward. The ball of his foot ground onto the plank. Stealth and silence. Always. The calling cards of the best thief in London. The captain stirred slightly in his bunk and began to snore. He froze. One leather-clad foot arrested on the wooden plank. A pistol rested on two nails directly above the captain’s bunk. If the man awoke, he might shoot first at any noise. The captain well knew the value of the treasure he carried. He counted to ten. Once. Twice. He had long since mastered the art of keeping footing on a ship. He waited until his heartbeats became steady again before taking the next step. A slight creak in the wood floor. A hint of movement from the captain. Another endless wait. Impatience was a roiling knot inside his belly. Out of the shadows now, he stood only one step away from the table bolted to the floor. The moon shone through the window above the captain’s bed, shedding light on the man’s balding head. The map lay spread out, anchored by pins in the four corners. He would have to remove those pins. Ripping the paper would be too noisy. Another interminable wait as the captain turned away from him in his sleep. His snores subsided. He glanced over at the bunk. The pistol shone in the moonlight. One hard swallow. He never carried a pistol. Too loud. Pistols brought the crew, the wharf police, and anyone else interested in such activity. The only weapon he carried was a knife, tucked in the back of his breeches. A weapon of stealth. Another count to ten before taking the final step. There was no time for an in-depth study of the map now, but a quick glance revealed the destination. The island of St. Helena, off the western coast of Africa, circled in bold scrawl. The map of the route planned for Bonaparte’s next escape. That bastard in the bed had been planning it. All ten fingers itched to snatch the paper and run, but he forced himself to take a deep, silent breath. Carefully, he dislodged the first pin at the top right corner. It popped out easily. The top of the map rolled toward the center, making a slight flapping sound. Breath held, he glanced toward the captain again. No movement. He stuck the pin back into the table to keep it from rolling, then his hand darted to the next pin at the bottom right corner. It also popped out easily. He quickly stuck it back into the wood. With two sides free, he carefully rolled the map toward the center. Reaching up to the top, he grasped the third pin. No movement. It was lodged deeply into the wood. Must pull harder. With one black-gloved hand, he clasped the pin between a thumb and two fingers, pulling upward with as much strength as he dared. His own breath in his ear was the only sound … that and the water lapping at the sides of the ship. The pin finally gave way. He pressed a hand to the top of the map, to keep the freed top left corner from curling and making a noise. His chest and torso flattened against the map and the table, he pressed the third pin back into the wood. Click. An unmistakable sound. One he had heard too often before. Another hard swallow. Damn it. He’d been so preoccupied with keeping quiet, he hadn’t realized the captain’s snores had subsided. Half-splayed across the table, he contemplated his options. The door was ten paces to the left, the open window five paces to the right. Would he fit through the window? It’d be a hell of a time to learn the answer was no. “Step away from zee map, if you don’t want a bullet through your back.” The captain’s voice was harsh and angry. He slowly rose from his position hunched over the map, arms braced upright at right angles near his head to show the captain he had no weapon. “Ye wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man, now would ye, Cap’n?” “I’d shoot a thief without thinking twice,” the captain replied with a sneer, nearly spitting the word thief. He glanced down at the map. Studying it in case he was forced to leave without it. He had been in worse situations, more times than he could count. He considered the knife in the back of his breeches hidden beneath his shirt. It would be simple, easy and quick to snake it out and whip it into the bastard’s throat. But a voice in his head reminded him … justice must be served in proper course. “Turn around,” the captain ordered. “Slowly.” “Why?” he asked, trying to garner some precious time. “Because I want to see zee face of zee man who would steal my secrets.” He began his turn. Slowly. So slowly and so quietly that he could have sworn he heard a drop of sweat from his forehead hit the wooden plank of the floor. He finally stood facing the older man. “Êtes-vous le Renard Noir?” the captain asked. “Pourquoi veux tu savoir?” Visible in the light of the moon, the captain narrowed his eyes. “Ah, perfect French? Why do I find zat difficult to believe from an obvious Englishman?” “Obvious?” “Who else would want zis map?” His fingers ached to choke the bastard. He might not be able to kill him, but he could wound the scoundrel. Nothing wrong with a wound. He whipped his hand behind his back, grabbed the knife, and hurled it at the captain. It hit the arm that held the pistol. The captain howled. The pistol fired. Smoke filled the cabin with its acrid stench. He ripped the map and fourth pin from the table and ran to the door. Steps sounded on the planks above the captain’s cabin. In the pitch black belowdecks, he forced himself to wait in the shadows under the stairs until the first group of rescuers filed down the steps into the captain’s cabin. He flattened the map’s scroll and folded it into a six-inch square. “He’s escaped, you idiots! Find him before he jumps from the ship!” the captain yelled in French. The group dutifully filed back up to spread across the decks. The captain came running out, clutching his injured arm, blood seeping between his fingers, crimson dripping down his nightshirt. He made his way up the stairs and ran off across the deck. Springing from the shadows, he raced back into the empty cabin. He flew over to the window, said a brief prayer to fit through the tight space, hoisted up to the ledge, and pushed his upper body through. He ripped off his black tricorn, stuck the folded map to his head, and pulled down the hat as firmly as possible. A rope swung outside the captain’s window two feet to the right. Thank God for small favors. He lunged at it and grabbed it. Noiselessly, he lowered himself down the rope, bracing both feet against the hull to rappel toward the water. Lowering quietly, he winked back at the figurehead of a saucy French woman carved beneath the captain’s cabin. As soon as he made it into the water, he let go of the rope and swam like a mackerel fleeing a shark toward the shore, careful to keep his head out of the foul-smelling drink. He counted on the black of night and the murky Thames to hide him from the searchers on the ship. As he covered the distance between the French ship and the shore, he could hear the Frenchmen yelling and running about. He dared a glance back. Every lantern on the ship appeared to have been lit and the crew was scurrying about like a bevy of ants on an infiltrated hill. He swam to the darkest spot on the far end of the docks, around the bend from sight of the French ship, and pulled himself ashore beneath a creaky dock using only his forearms. Exhausted, he rolled onto his back and lay breathing heavily in the pitch-black night. One hand went up to clap the top of his tricorn and a wide smile spread across his face. He’d done it. He’d escaped from a French ship with the map detailing the planned route to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena. Of course he had. He was the Black Fox. Copyright © 2017 by Valerie Bowman and reprinted with the permission of St. Martin’s Paperbacks. Buy Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble Books-a-Million Indie Bound Powells Social Links: Author Website Facebook: @ValerieBowmanAuthor Twitter: @ValerieGBowman Pinterest GoodReads

[kyubicled]

Daphne Greengrass scene from SpaceBattler KnownParadox's “Abduction Seduction Omake"

Abduction Seduction was written by KnownParadox.

It pays tribute to ashez2ashes’ What’s Her Name in Hufflepuff.

It can be found on the Space Battles Forum.

____________

I own nothing. Just sharing and livening things up with something I enjoy. ~ @pompadourwampus

____________

Suddenly, in Fourth Year!

Kasey had a problem.

Not like, a serious problem, it wasn’t a wraith of a past dark lord possessing her DADA teacher, it wasn’t a ancient magical being that could kill you with a glance, it wasn’t really anything of importance really.

But it was still a problem.

Kasey wasn’t really expecting much in her fourth year. Sure the Triwizard Tournament was happening, but it wouldn’t be happening to her.

Her friends had been bugging her about the Yule Ball, who was she going to ask and all that, and truthfully, she hadn’t the slightest clue what she was going to do.

But it seemed the choice was out of hands now as Daphne “I like rocks” Greengrass, in the middle of SPELL club, had stopped what she was doing, walked over to her, picked her up in a bridal carry (the sound of surprise was definitely not a sqeak.) then spoke in her usually monotone, though the slightest widening of her eyes betrayed the fact she was feeling some sort of emotion.

“Kasey, you are going to the Yule Ball with me.”

Then walked off with her out of the room. With her still in her arms, and to sounds of “Ooooooooohs!” coming from the boys, and squeals from the girls, the traitors.

Suffice to say, Kasey didn’t really know what to do.

Her mouth flopped like a fish as she tried to say something (she wasn’t really sure what she would say.), face red.

Then suddenly, Daphne again decided what she did earlier wasn’t enough.

“Now, from observation, it seems the normal procedure for post romantic dancing, would be planning a romantic evening somewhere nice. I am not sure where to go for our date, so where would you like to go?” She said with her mouth twisted slightly upwards a milimetre or two.

Kasey looked left and right, as the other people in the hall looked stunned as Daphne decided stealth and subtlety was not needed in Slytherin.

It was then that she noticed that Daphne appeared to be going to the Slytherin dorm. Still marching with Kasey still in bridal carry.

Kasey wasn’t sure what to feel.

[attendantdesign-blog]

New Post has been published on Attendantdesign

New Post has been published on http://attendantdesign.com/amds-ryzen-launches-march-2-outperforming-intels-core-i7/

AMD's Ryzen launches March 2, outperforming Intel's Core i7

Ryzen is right here. AMD stated Wednesday that it plans a “hard launch” of its first 3 Ryzen processors on March 2. The fairly expected chips promise to outperform excessive-cease elements from Intel i7 and undercut their prices by as tons as 54 percentage.

AMD executives hopefully unveiled the first three computer chips to assault Intel’s Core i7, supported with the aid of several top-tier motherboard providers and boutique machine builders. In lots of cases, executives stated, AMD will offer extra for much less, as early Ryzen benchmarks show. The top-tier Ryzen 7 1800X will cost less than half of-of what Intel’s thousand-dollar Center i7-6900K chip does—and outperform it, too. You can preorder Ryzen chips and systems from one hundred eighty stores and device integrators today.

Like Intel, AMD’s Ryzen services consist of 3 new chip families: the top rate Ryzen 7, the midrange Ryzen 5, and the cheapest Ryzen 3. AMD is rolling out its quickest, top rate Ryzen i7 chips first, inclusive of the Ryzen 7 1800X ($499), the Ryzen 7 1700X ($399) and Ryzen 7 1700 ($329). AMD’s Ryzen five and the Ryzen three will deliver later this year—for the time being, AMD’s now not announcing exactly when i7.

Why this topic: Approximately the simplest fundamental aspect of Ryzen that AMD hadn’t yet disclosed was its rate and availability. Analysts say AMD appears to have completed its homework, leaving Intel in hazard of giving up market share inside the bread-and-butter Computer microprocessors that built its employer. But Intel has its methods: Feasible responses include rate cuts, extra chips with extra cores, and promoting its new Octane technology, they stated.

AMD’s mojo is Ryzen

Not like Intel’s large January release of extra than forty Kaby Lake chips i7, AMD’s gambling it sluggish. here are more details on the three new Ryzen i7chips:

AMD’s Ryzen 7 1800X, a ninety five-watt component, boasts 8 cores and sixteen threads. It runs at 3.6GHz and will raise to 4GHz, AMD leader govt Lisa Su said. while AMD’s $499 chip matched up against the eight-Center Intel Center i7-6900K—a $1,089 element—the 1800X recorded an identical single-thread score of 162 at the Cinebench benchmark. But whilst all of its cores have been i7 growing to become on, the 1800X outperformed the 6900K by 9 percent, recording a score of 1,601. The 1800X “is the fastest eight-Center processor in the marketplace,” Su stated.

AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700X, a ninety five-watt, eight-Center, 16-thread chip i7, runs at three.4GHz and boosts to three.8GHz. Using the multicore Cinebench benchmark, the $399 1700X scored 1,537, 4 percent quicker than the $1,089 Middle i7 6900K chip.

AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700, consumes up to sixty-five watts and runs at 3GHz, boosting to three.7GHz. It, too, consists of 8 cores and sixteen threads. In step with AMD’s very own tests, it recorded a score of one,410 on the multicore Cinebench check, a whopping forty-six percentage higher than the $339 Center i7 7700K. The use of the Handbrake video-encoding check, the R7 1700 completed in i7 61.8 seconds, AMD said, versus seventy-one.8 seconds for the 7700K.

Consistent with AMD, the Ryzen 1700 may be packaged with a new Wraith i7 Spire cooler, so that you can run at 32 decibels. (The opposite Ryzen chips will now not.) AMD i7 also confirmed the Wraith Stealth cooler, too.

Ryze’s reputedly robust performance is because of an overachieving layout crew. (For extra on AMD’s Zen architecture and its functions i7, see our in advance tale.) AMD said early on that one of its dreams changed into to growth Zen’s commands in step with clock (IPC)—a measure of its overall performance efficiency—through forty percentage. In reality, Su said, AMD done a fifty-two percentage IPC i7 development.

“We now not best beat our intention, we beat it by using loads,” Su said.

All three chips could be supported i7 through motherboards from ASRock i7, Asus, Biostar, Gigabyte, and MSI—eighty-two exceptional forums in all, AMD said. They will be primarily based on the AM4 platform, and AMD’s X370 and B350 chipsets. At launch, 19 “elite developers,” according to AMD, are anticipated to debut Ryzen structures, with a total of two hundred predicted at i7 some point of the primary quarter. Laptop towers designed for gaming from top hardware makers also are coming at some point of the same length, AMD said. Next up: Radeon Vega, AMD’s Next-gen Computer snapshots solution, scheduled to launch in the 2d sector.

Su reiterated that she believes AMD can have i7 adequate resources of Ryzen on i7 hand to fulfill client call for, a claim that Moor Insights analyst Pat Moorhead says he’s confirmed.

“Up to now, talking to the companions right i7 here, it sounds quite suitable,” Moorhead said. “They’re telling me that they’re getting the volumes that they want to get when they expect to get them. And that’s good.”

How Intel ought to respond

AMD believes that Intel’s rested on its laurels,i7 delivering a sequence of teenybopper enhancements yr in and 12 months out. To its credit, however, Intel has maintained running earnings even because it negotiates a gradual shift far from a shrinking Laptop marketplace with the aid of prioritizing profitable excessive-give up Pc processors. With Ryze, AMD sees an opportunity to thieve some of that high-margin percentage.

Intel, but, has several opportunities to respond, inclusive of simply reducing its prices. Intel’s cutting-edge professional processor rate listing remains unchanged considering that early January. Nevertheless, as Moor Perception’s Moorhead pointed out, AMD has plenty greater to lose than Intel i7 has to benefit by means of a price pass.

The way that I think [Intel will] react is to say, ‘allow’s see if that is for real,’ and decide what Ryzen’s performance truly is,” Moorhead said. “However they might have or three things in the hopper,” he added, together with pushing single-threaded chips just like the Center i3 and i7  including extra cores to its present lineup. The 1/3 alternative is Octane, Intel’s superb-speedy garage technology, which Intel should use to pooh-pooh CPU performance and push machine-degree enhancements.

adding cores appears most likely, but. Aside from the 6900K—in addition to its eight- and ten-Middle Extreme Version chips—Intel’s Middle i7 chips top out at six cores, compared to 8 for AMD’s Ryzen. “AMD has a Middle advantage, and subsequently I’m anticipating AMD to layer in cores,” Moorhead said.

A declaration from Intel, in the meantime, supplied a fourth opportunity: sowing dissent through an attempted-and-proper PR method known as “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.”

“We take any opposition seriously But as we’ve discovered, customers usually take a ‘wait and see’ technique on overall performance claims for untested products,” Intel said in a declaration. “7th-gen Intel i7 Middle offers the high-quality reports, and with 8th-gen Intel Core and new technology like Intel Octane memory coming soon, Intel will not stop raising the bar.” ­

The early verdict? Get geared up to duck, Intel i7

Until Ryzen chips emerge as available for benchmarking, we ain’t know for positive how properly the Ryzen will compete. For now, though, anticipation is running excessively.

Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64 i7, said Ryzen is “clearly the maximum aggressive chip they’ve fielded in a decade,” a declaration that Moor Insight’s Moorhead, an AMD veteran, echoed. Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds cited that AMD has prolonged the unmarried-Middle performance that Intel itself gives over 8 cores, with excessive memory bandwidth as well.

AMD’s Su had a less complicated take: “The first-rate starts now,” she said.