AWS outage

Oct. 20th, 2025 10:11 am
alierak: (Default)
[personal profile] alierak posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance
DW is seeing some issues due to today's Amazon outage. For right now it looks like the site is loading, but it may be slow. Some of our processes like notifications and journal search don't appear to be running and can't be started due to rate limiting or capacity issues. DW could go down later if Amazon isn't able to improve things soon, but our services should return to normal when Amazon has cleared up the outage.

Edit: all services are running as of 16:12 CDT, but there is definitely still a backlog of notifications to get through.

Edit 2: and at 18:20 CDT everything's been running normally for about the last hour.

RIP Charles Zimmer

Oct. 20th, 2025 04:38 am
matt_zimmer: (Gilda And Meek And The Un-Iverse)
[personal profile] matt_zimmer
This entry is going to be cross-posted at both Dreamwidth and Daily Kos as I talk about the last 24 hours of my Dad being in my life, and my Dad in general. 

“Matt, don’t post your real name online! You’re gonna get in trouble!” 

The thing is I LIKE trouble. I’m good at it. There is a storefront in front of the boardwalk with a sign reading “Rascals wanted”, and when I walk through the door, the proprietor discreetly withdraws the sign. Trouble it is. 

Me and my family had no real way of knowing this, but me and my sister sensed this might be the last time we ever saw my Dad today. He's been asleep for days and woke up only a few minutes at a time and never for my last two visits. 

While my Dad has been in hospice, I’ve temporarily moved in with my Mom to help her out. One thing my Mom shares with me is an erratic sleep schedule. But I made sure to go to bed early last night for our final visit with my Dad, but like a big dope I forgot to make sure SHE did. I had to drag her out of bed kicking and screaming this morning. My usual role in the family is that of peacekeeper. I had to play bad cop, and it’s a role I hate because I suck at it. And yet I got my Mom there anyways. 

Do not judge my mom harshly for this. I don’t think she ever either understood or accepted the reality of my Dad’s terminal condition. No matter how often we told her this was terminal she always believed recovery was “unlikely” rather than “impossible”, even though it was the latter. She honestly didn’t think it would be the last time she ever saw him. I did, so I made sure to get her there. In hindsight she is grateful, but it was an ordeal. 

Last week somebody on Daily Kos suggested I look into reiki as a therapy, and because I’m as square as a Wendy’s hamburger I never heard of it. What IS reiki? Okay, so the best way I can describe it is to ask you to think back to your childhood of a kid gently running their fingers down the back of your hair and telling you they are cracking an egg on the back of your head and the sensation you are feeling is yolk running down your hair. Reiki is exactly like that, only the trick is somehow pulled off without the person even touching you. 

I asked my sister if she heard of it, and she informed my she is professionally trained in it, which is SO my sister’s entire brand. I love it. 

Anyways, she did some on both my Dad (and me) and I can safely say it’s pure b.s. and I actually FELT that force at the exact same time. It’s pure hokum that I actually experienced. It’s both not real and doesn’t work, and complete real and works perfectly.

I bought my Dad an Elmo for his hospice stay because my Aspie self is obsessed with that Sesame Street character, and I knew when he looks at it he’d think of me. So my sister helped me channel some positive energy into the plush (I helped a little too) which both never happened and totally did. We gave him to our Dad as my sister and my Mom said their final goodbyes. I had been visiting my Dad every day so I had expected to see him tomorrow (or rather today) but I had already told him what I needed to. He’d been asleep for the past two days and my sister gave her final thoughts. What were mine? 

I am disabled and have spent my life largely dependent on my parents. I told him both the last day he was awake AND yesterday that I would be fine, he didn’t have to worry about me, and that he taught me to take care of myself. And that I loved him. That was the best I could give him and I hope it helped. 

So we left for the day. And the call came at 9:30 at night. I can’t decide if this next bit is really funny or truly horrifying. 

My Mom answered the phone, and bless her, thought it was a telemarketer. At 9:30PM. I know. Ugh. But I knew what the call meant. I had to get on the other line to keep the woman from hospice on the phone while my mother is telling the “telemarketer” she’s hanging up now. I am barely processing the information of my father’s death while doing the dumbshow of my worst imagining. It’s like if “Who’s On First?” was set in the morgue. It was both comical and appalling in equal measure, as I was trying to tell my Mom into the phone Dad had died. I might have been mortified in other circumstances, but really I was reeling. 

Never change, Mom. 

Anyways, my sister and her husband are involved with the paperwork aspects of my father’s life, specifically the plans for his funeral. She lives an hour and 45 minutes away from the hospice. My Mom’s house is a half hour away so I’m elected, and promoted from Peacekeeper to “person being forced to do some actual adulting for the first time in his life”. 

I don’t drive. I don’t own a car or a cell phone. The hospice provides a service to have Ubers take the patient’s family members back and forth for visits. I told the driver my Dad had just died because I was still in shock. 

It’s night. Although it was a reasonably warm day for October in Massachusetts, and although the night is still unseasonably warm for the time of year, it’s still chilly. The hospice is dead silent. I’m scared, nervous, and have no idea what to expect. The only paper I brought with me was the name of the funeral parlor my sister had hired. Is that enough? She said on the phone it was, but I’m scared. 

I meet the nurse in the hallway and she nonchalantly greets me and says “How are you?” I actually laugh. I say “How do you THINK I am?” “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” 

They ask me if I want to see him and I’m like “Dude! My dad is alive in my memory! That’s the last thing about him I’m going to remember.” I know they HAVE to ask that because tons of families DO need that to say goodbye, but it strikes me as utterly weird as are funeral viewings. But I think all people are utterly weird so I accept it. Still.. Dude! 

I hear the nurses talking and laughing about life stuff, which frankly is both completely understandable and infuriating and unforgivable at the same time. My Dad’s name is Charles Zimmer, NOT Room 15! I asked if I could take his Elmo to bring home to remember him and the nurse brings out two plastics bags filled with my Dad’s things. This is how it is. My Dad is done, Here are his things in sanitary plastic bags, Room 15 is open, and rinse and repeat. 

I put the Elmo in my pocket and closely inspect my Dad’s cane. His physical therapist noted it’s a bad fit for him. It’s way taller than he can comfortably use it for. But was his father’s cane. My Grandpa died on the exact day the Challenger blew up in 1986, and my dad has had that cane ever since. It didn’t fit, but he used it as a point of pride for his father. 

And there’s an inventory sticker on it with my dad’s name. On a forty year old wooden cane my Dad cherished that belonged  to my Grandpa. I distastefully peel it off but this is still sticky residue left on it that makes me more depressed than mad. 

I go into the lounge next. There is a machine that dispenses coffee and hot chocolate I absolutely love. I joked to the doctors the hot chocolate was the real reason I visited every day (I don’t drink coffee). Last time to use it so I silently raise a cardboard cup to my dad before I start hot tiny-sipping. It feels both fitting and woefully inadequate at the exact same time. 

As nurse comes into the kitchen to heat up some dinner and I happened to mention how much I appreciated how she and everyone there looked out for my Dad and kept him comfortable. I think I took her aback a bit. I don’t think this is a business where too many people give the workers thanks and gratitude, which makes me feel lucky I’m here with this woman right now, and can tell her something no-one else ever does. For good or ill, it’s how I am. 

I get home, shower, say goodnight to my Mom (who is in shellshock and going to bed) and start writing this tribute. I have literally been up for 24 hours straight and writing this seems like the most logical thing in the world right now. I will not be able to sleep until it’s entirely out of me. I might zonk out immediately when it’s posted and not tend comments on Daily Kos or Dreamwidth until I wake up this evening. But I say right on the first page of my site, writing is how I work out my psychological crap. I am in pain, writing helps me lance the boil. Gros? So is life. And  death. Don’t forget death. 

How is my pain? My sister is in shock and experiencing the calmness that comes with that. I have not cried or registered it, not because I’m in denial (wasn’t it proven somewhere the five stages of grief were actually bogus?) but because I have a very specific want and need for my grief. And when I tell you what it is, people are liable to bristle it’s perfectly natural to do it the way I am utterly resisting. But people view things differently and this is how I view it. 

I am alone. My Mom’s asleep and I don’t think she’s registering this altogether. I will be with her tomorrow and we’ll lean on each other, but I had to go to the hospice alone and be with my thoughts alone. And frankly, I came to the realization that my Dad deserved better grief from me than to fall apart tonight. 

I am going to bawl at the funeral. People will be all, “Dude, Leland Palmer called! He asked you to dial it back!” I think my grief will be multiplied a thousand-fold experiencing it with other people sharing it. I don’t dismiss any other person’s lonely tears. For me, I need this to freaking HURT, and to remember the pain, and carry it with me for the rest of my life.  I’m gonna wait. That might strike you as crazy and emotionally unhealthy but I have never once pretended to you I was sane and well-adjusted. If you ever thought I was, that’s something YOU mistakenly projected onto ME. I never once said I was. Mostly because if I had I'd be lying. 

That was my goodbye. Time to talk about my Dad. 

I love my Dad. I always will. I insisted to the people in hospice that me and him were going to live forever and go on adventures. There is a current kink in the plan, but I’m confident my Dad will find a workaround. He’s an engineer. That’s what he does. 

Oh, is he an engineer! Classic overthinker and will hook up twenty cables over 3 power switches to plug in a lamp. I think my Dad (who is responsible for the computer set-ups of both me and my sister’s family) made them so complex and impossible to understand so we’d always need him. Old engineering trick. I am confident my current computer is okay for now (although it’s not compatible with Windows 11). Mostly because I do little web-surfing and mostly just go to the same safe sites over and over again. My brother in law? ALWAYS having computer problems. He’s screwed. My Dad was devious that way. 

My Dad was a life-long Republican and I am proud to say I am the one who corrupted him to the good guys. Here’s the thing about my Dad. He’s kind. He was simply in the wrong tribe. And it was easy to bring him into the fold during the Bush Administration and have him proudly vote for Obama twice and against Trump three times. 

It’s kindness. My dad was and is still kind. And I have gotten into a LOT of online arguments about that last election. A lot of people believe the Democrats messed up while I believe there was nothing to be done. I believe the actual political problem then, and unfortunately going forward, is there are more unkind than kind people in this world. And with my Dad gone we’re down another kind person. But the reality is there is no messaging problem. Our messaging simply doesn’t resonate with unkind people and there are more of them than us. That doesn’t mean we should change our messaging to appeal to unkind people. Our kindness is a selling point, and not to be cynically bartered away to attract unkind people. 

Great speech, Matt. So how do we fix it, you useless lump? That’s the thing. I don’t think we do. Do I believe it’s possible for an unkind person to see the light and become kind? I absolutely 100% do. But that won’t happen because of our messaging. The unkind person is question is going to have to decide to do that for themselves. THEY need to take the step to say “Enough!”, not us. We can’t help them there. I am willing to welcome a former MAGA aboard the Kindness Express. But we can’t actually buy them tickets. That’s up to them. 

When talking about what my Dad has been going through an online friend mentioned my Dad sounded tough. And I had to correct that. My Dad was not remotely tough. That was the most wonderful and unusual thing about him. 

I can only go by my own relationship with my Dad, but if I’m being 100% honest, when I see other father-son relationships I think many, and maybe even most of them, are toxic on some level. On some level I believe a majority of Dads believe the biggest lesson to impart to sons is how to be a man. How to be strong. How to be tough. My Dad was and is so chill about that, with absolutely NO macho posturing to him that growing up I found the other kind of parenting style quite weird. I’m had cynical female friends tell me about how toxic and untrustworthy most men are during their life, and I tell them while I believe their experience, not everybody’s experience is Universal. They wonder why this kid with the high voice treats them well and is okay. It’s not because I’m super virtuous or super trustworthy. I was just never taught to be a toxic piece of crap. And I believe what we AREN’T taught is just as important as what we ARE taught. And in this specific case, maybe more-so. 

It’s funny, but I am very lucky this is so. Not just because my personality is frankly effeminate, but my my demeanor and even interests are childish. My late Grandpa used to sneer at my stuffed animals ("Playing with dolls!”) My Dad took Mount Plushmore in stride. Because he’s awesome and kind.

And when I say he isn’t tough, that’s not entirely accurate. I’m speaking toughness as defined by toxic male culture in general. My Dad is certainly the guy to pick fights with someone else if he thought he was right. And to be truthful the times he’d pick fights and the times he was actually right were NOT a level scorecard remotely. But if my Dad thought you were treating him unfairly, he’d let you know in no uncertain terms that he didn’t like or appreciate it. Of course, so often he misconstrued harmless interactions for sinister that he’d often have to embarrassedly walk those rants back. And he’s do it with no excuses. 

People tell me that it’s hard for people to admit they are wrong, and that’s why things are so screwed up in the country. Well, things are screwed up, but that other thing is not remotely true. Not just because I own my own screw-ups all the time, but because I was never raised to believe there was anything abnormal about it. When somebody says to me “It takes a very big person to admit they are wrong,” my first thought (always left unsaid) is “Sounds like a ‘You’ problem.” It’s not remotely normal. People act like it is so they don’t actually have to adjust their behavior. Because they simply don’t want to. But adjusting the actual behavior is super easy. You heard it here first. 

I think this weird viewpoint must be an American thing. Basically Brits and Canadians apologize nonstop. A Canadian dude spills something on his own shirt he says “Sorry.” The idea that apologies are hard is simply a way for Americans to take the path of least resistance. Don’t indulge them about this. My Dad proves it’s completely untrue. 

My Dad was 89, and so he had his share of insensitive opinions. But one of the things I loved and still love about him is if he said something offensive and I corrected him, he wouldn’t get defensive and insist he was right. He would actually be curious and want to know exactly how what he said was wrong. 

I remember my Dad asking me as a liberal  supposedly “”in the movement “ what the Black experience actually was. And it was then I realize he was unlucky to have me for a son, and the luckiest person ever. I would say 499 out of 500 White liberals would tell him what they believe it to be, partly to comfort him, and partly to make themselves sound woke and worldly. My poor Dad got the one guy who told him “It’s not my place as a white person to speak for Black experiences. It’s my job to listen.” 

And that’s how most conversations with my dad regarding insensitivities went. And whether or I was willing (or much less worthy) to answer some of these questions, my dad has value because they inspired curiosity in him instead of resentment. And I was raised to believe this idea was the normal way. Not the virtuous way. Not the correct way. Just the way things are for people like him. It never struck me as weird or unusual when compared to the rest of society it is very much both of those things. It’s how other people see things like that which I find strange. 

My favorite memories of my dad were when we went to the beach at Cape Cod. We used to go in the stream and catch minnows with my sister. I believe he wanted his ashes spread on that beach in those streams, which IS a private beach, and will probably need to be worked out and given permission for ahead of time. 

Or not. This might be where me being a rascal might come in handy. It was bound to sooner or later. 

My sister told me yesterday something to the effect that human beings all start out as soul energy and before we’re born we decide who our family and loved ones are going to be on Earth, and after we’re gone, those souls look after the rest of us until we are all reunited. I’m agnostic and don’t believe in the Judeo-Christian God. But I’d LIKE there to be a higher power and afterlife, so I have decided to take my sister’s word for it.

And maybe some Christians think that notion is ludicrous. Well, then fine. Give me solid proof and evidence you are right and my sister is wrong and I’ll change my mind. Since you can’t, I’mma trust her here.

My Dad could not get into my comic but he had value because he tried. My dad likes sci-fi but the high-concept of the week from Star Trek and Next Gen is all he handle. Which genre started doing story arcs it lost him. And I understand why my complicated comic book is something he couldn’t do. And that’s something I love about fiction, all the different reactions. And I got the sense my Dad wished he could keep up because even if he didn’t understand it, he knew it was good, and that people who DID understand it would like it. And that comforts me. 

I called my Dad Doodah (“Or Grimey as he liked to be called...”) and we like having fun and being silly together. We like a little silly!

I’ll miss you, Doodah. Not yet, because you are still here in my heart and mind. But when I grieve I definitely will. And we’re still going to live forever and go on adventures. I think the first one will involve us brainstorming ways around the snag. But you LIVE to work around snags! That’s how engineers do!

[Treehouse of Horror: XXXVI]

Oct. 19th, 2025 07:33 pm
classicswim: (Default)
[personal profile] classicswim
 I missed the first 3 minutes because I was watching on a live channel stream for the first time with this tradition, annnndd I may have put on the wrong FOX channel when they all play that fucking OT garbage at the same time. Thus interchangeable.

That being said, what I did see of the first segment was just a couple stray huhs before it was over. The fact it just... ended like that within 2 minutes of me clicking (and no real jokes) suggests that they might not have tried too hard at the start. 


The show is getting more craftier with replicating the older look.

It’s interesting because the Krusty segment took place in ‘95 (7th season) and the segment looked like one of those ancient YouTube rips of a 2002 episode.

I’m not sure who on the modern staff got hyperfixated on this in the first place, but it’ll be interesting if this approach makes its way into Simpsons Movie 2.


Krusty segment with Idris was the relatively more acknowledgeable one. The show has toyed around with “Simpsons, but plastic” more than once already, so there’s not much for me to do besides stare at the screen.


No particular segment to me was joke heavy. They give you less and less to talk about every year so.. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll throw on an older Treehouse of Horror to watch so that I can laugh and actually feel some human construct emotion.

Landscaping project!

Oct. 19th, 2025 07:05 am
a_natural_beauty: (Default)
[personal profile] a_natural_beauty
I don't think any of you - if some of you know it may be very few of you - but I live on a hill and its in the front part of my yard that my driveway goes up and around. This hill is somewhat steep and over the years I've had trouble mowing it. Lately because of the lilac bushes I planted spread out has caused my mower to get stuck as I go around them. That's been a pain to deal with not to mention all of the weed whacking I've had to do around each small bush now. Mike and I met a local guy who does all sorts of work with local farms, landscaping and educational related talks about native plants and editable plants of North East Ohio. He came to check out my yard and go over what I could do with this hill and we figured out for the area I want to be garden he would come back and help fill it with different plants for pollinators. He would charge $100 which I don't think is bad at all.
The lilac bushes have been doing alright - some are looking better than others. I planted some astilbes but they did not do well in the direct sun. So about a month ago I moved the astilbes into a shady area of my yard on the east side under some trees in a row as a boarder. I think they will do well there.
For the last several weeks I've been collecting cardboard from work and putting it down on my hill in a giant circle to kill the grass so come spring the plans can begin for the pollinator garden! With every piece of cardboard down I think to myself this will be a good plan! Less to mow, plants for nature and a rewarding feeling. This morning I'm going to get a bit more of it done - or hopefully if I have enough cardboard - I will get the whole area I want covered done! Fingers crossed! I'm grateful the weather has been nice to work in. Later today we are expected to get rain so I'm hoping to get it done before that happens. This has been a-lot of work but the reward will be nice in the end! Maybe more people will do more natural things with their yards as time goes on. One can hope!

[South Park: Twisted Christian]

Oct. 15th, 2025 11:36 pm
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[personal profile] classicswim
 “Why is there a camera in the girls bathroom?”

”To capture the Antichrist.”

This was decent.


The show pulls another from the Vice City/SR2 soundtrack. Would be promising if Jesus weaponizes the frat bro bullshit for the better good.

 

It’s my obligation as an atheist to be smug about the implication that Christianity’s suddenly been hijacked when it’s always been a hateful conservative threshold. 

This, in turn, is shot down with the fact it’s MAGA now specifically. Here’s the thing..... we’ve suffered Trump’s campaign for a fucking decade now, basically. 

Separation of Church and State means as much to me as the second amendment did for that buzzard who took a neck shot for the second amendment. Hence why I applauded the premiere in the first place.


Christians are the majority though, and I’m not.

Just a CC toward two billionaires that went “Richard Dawkins? So what if he’s not real, you gay stupid fuck? Haha! You’re gay and stupid!” I just don’t see a whole lot of Christians taking value and singing kumbaya that South Park endorses only now that the belief system’s been compromised.

I guess if you want to pat yourself on the back for this one, go ahead. I was still entertained but otherwise didn’t truly see much of anything new besides a fun Peter Thiel bit.
a_natural_beauty: (Default)
[personal profile] a_natural_beauty
Talk of death, green burial, cremation and donating bodies are going to be talked in this post - so be aware.
I'm not sure if I posted about this before - but close to a month ago Mike and I went to view our first green burial center. It's called Foxfield and is a lovely place. It's two hours away and is the closet one. There was another one I was in contact with that is a part of a college - it was a bit more expensive and a bit further west for us. While there I felt hopeful this is what I could do when I pass away - just be a part of nature and give my body back to the earth. I think others in our tour group felt the same way, too. I liked the parrie option more than the forest one.
Soon I was in contact with other funeral homes in the area to compare prices and see how much general services would cost to have my body cleaned up and then shipped down to Foxfield and the prices were terribly high. That's on top of the price of buying the plot and services that would be at Foxfield and I was looking at a scary amount. Places offered payment plans but even so I was looking at a-lot more money than I thought I would spend. I think it was foolish on my part. Right now I am in a place where I can't be careless with money because I still have some repairs on my house that need done. And some expenses in the near future - like dental work that my insurance isn't completely covering.
So these plans for now are on hold. I did look into one option that I'm leaning towards more and more which is donating my body to a medical school. Ohio State University has that as an option and I looked over the site a bit. It would be a much cheaper way to do things and I would be giving my body back to a cause - helping medical students how ever they may need to do it. My main requests are that I don't want to be pumped full of chemicals and viewed by my loved ones. Nothing against those who have that be their final wishes but I just would rather have those who knew me remember me for when I was living and not like that. I don't even wear makeup so the idea of being kept preserved to be viewed and touched and cried over by those in my life seems weird. Un-natural comes to mind. There is also the choice of being cremated which is the most popular choice currently. I could do that but also the idea of being all burnt up like that just makes me sad. I have a fear of fire and feel like that wouldn't be a good way for me to go. But again - all the more power to those who want that!
Currently I am working on my will at least. I actually am meeting with two different attorneys nearby and today is a phone meeting and the other on the 23rd I'll be meeting with in person. And I have read the papers for my living will - I just need to fill it out. So things are going a different course. I have talked to Mike and I have a plan for what I would like done when I am gone to an extent. But talking to these professionals will help with what I need to do going forward.

I'm still here ~

Oct. 13th, 2025 05:34 am
a_natural_beauty: (Default)
[personal profile] a_natural_beauty
Gosh, it's getting close to I think a month since I was last on here... sorry guys... I hope all of you have been doing well. I'll be writing some updates on different subjects as things have been going on in my life. Nothing horrible but I've just had the typical case of 'I don't feel like turning on my laptop'. I'll check out the reading page and see what you all have been up to.
matt_zimmer: (Justice  League)
[personal profile] matt_zimmer
Also a review for the latest episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Read more... )

RIP Jane Goodall

Oct. 12th, 2025 05:14 am
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[personal profile] matt_zimmer
Due to personal stuff in my life this one was late but she still deserves to be honored.

RIP Diane Keaton

Oct. 12th, 2025 05:13 am
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[personal profile] matt_zimmer
Another legend passes.

So here is the current situation

Oct. 12th, 2025 03:35 am
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[personal profile] matt_zimmer
On Tuesday, I'm moving back in with my Mom temporarily to help her get by until she is put in assisted living. I'll still have my apartment and come back to here (and Mount Plushmore) around a day a week just to get done what needs to get done.

I'm visiting my Dad on Tuesday as well. I'm nervous about it although he sounds all right on the phone. He's still in the hospital and won't ever be able to come home which depresses me. He has around a month to live. He still sounds all right on the phone but I am aware that won't always be the case.

What about The Un-Iverse? I am sorry to say it's on indefinite hold while I'm helping my mom. I need my printer and my scanner to create it and both are unavailable at my parents' house. I'll be bringing my outline and story list so if any new writing insights hit I'll be able to update things but the comic itself is going to be on hold for a little bit.

I might be on Dreamwidth and Daily Kos a little less too. I have a feeling I'll be doing fewer reviews and have a lot to catch up on once I get home in a few months. But I'm not sure about that bit.

Love to every single one of you and I'll be thinking of you all.

This post in unlocked just because the status update involves both The Un-Iverse and my time on Dreamwidth. Trolls are unwelcome.
classicswim: (Default)
[personal profile] classicswim

 






General consensus: Present day, still one of the best DLCs of all time.

Vast majority, yet again: The greatest zombie game ever produced.


For myself? It has stayed the quintessential Halloween experience each and every year.



Downloadable Content hadn’t taken off until this era of gaming with Xbox 360.

Rockstar Games had already been instantaneously ahead of the curve with Grand Theft Auto IV’s Episodes From Liberty City. (The Lost And Damned/The Ballad of Gay Tony)
 


This was also an era of gaming - - and really just a general statement on ‘09 and 2010’s pop culture; Everything was zombies...

There were people who couldn’t stand Walking Dead and all the oversaturated zombie stuff... but still couldn’t dispute Red Dead’s high quality with this expansion pack.


- - - - - - - - - - 


Episodes From Liberty City set in force a complete narrative saga for GTA IV, often crossing over Niko’s story until TBOGT brought a more lighthearted conclusion.


Undead Nightmare... separate universe... alternate timeline. That whole spiel. 

But in the same breath, Undead Nightmare takes place spot-on at the end of Redemption.

The approximate timeframe being after Dutch’s death, but before John was killed.



EFLC was more or less produced with the intent of “yeah, of course you’ve played Niko’s story already.” Only, you could eventually buy a separate disc of those expansions, and not even have to previously own Grand Theft Auto IV. Though, it’d be very weird, and selling the experience drastically short if you did.


Undead Nightmare’s a shameless direct sequel. It provides additional closure and a completely different badass story for a protagonist who was already beloved by this point.


It’s a healthy mix of not taking itself too seriously and also understanding key things that made Redemption entertaining.

 

Like yeah. This has zombies, undead wildlife like the already existing bears + cougars, Chupacabra and Sasquatch you can hunt.

But I LOVE what really sets it apart from Redemption’s usual grit would be the knockoff Vincent Price narration at the very beginning. I’m more appreciative of that now than when I first played in 2010.



The beginning gives you a lengthy cutscene with John enjoying the company of Jack and Abigail.

Redemption’s ending was so focused on the gut punch of Marston losing himself after only just getting his family back. So it’s a very nice thing to get this brief glimpse of John cherishing what’s ideally his paradise in the moment.

I’d say if Undead Nightmare overall truly was John Marston’s purgatory and hell, then what you see of him and his family alive as a unit was his heaven.

Angelic music playing when John’s zoning out, interrupting Jack’s foreshadowing. I love that because the foreshadowing from the contents of Jack’s books was important for the main game, but here it is not. To the player, John had already died. So it’s an unsung detail for him to not even take in the bad this time around. He doesn’t need to hear how the story ends, he’ll be guided toward it in short time.


 

The first undead to make the scene, and the one to alter the timeline was Uncle.

A cowboy who just left the ass-end of the 1900s isn’t gonna know what in the fuck a zombie is. John just sees his freeloading tenant eating the shit out of his wife’s neck and kills the old man in self defense.


By the time both Abigail and Jack are infected, John trades his gun for a rope and ties both of them up.

Played for good laughs. They’re tied up whilst howling for blood and he leaves plates or steak and fucking orange juice before boarding up the bedroom and embarking on a cure.
 

You’re given the same motivation of saving the wife and son like in the main story. Except in these circumstances it’s not a hostage situation, and John has the comfort of knowing exactly where the two are while he’s out in danger.

Edgar Ross for that matter doesn’t exist as far as you can tell. For where it counts, anyway.

The circumstances of John’s death stay the same, but John’s mortal enemies are not given the satisfaction of tormenting or even clouding his judgment while stuck in this dimension. 



The only point where the mask nearly falls off are when John’s testing the barriers with failed results.

The aftermath of Dutch is simply referred to as “that Van Der Linde operation.” Generic soldiers might be aware of it, but it’s something that mostly exists in the corner of John’s mind.

John makes one joke about Bill Williamson, and only then was he treated like he was from another planet.



The villains of the past weren’t needed to be put to rest, but much of the key cast from the original still returns. Just with very limited material.

 

Bonnie MacFarlane upon revisiting her ranch will mention the trouble in West Elizabeth. She’s subliminally talking about the attack that happened to John.

 


The missions with the returning characters are all structured like Stranger encounter tasks, and that’s the most underwhelming aspect, story wise. 


You can tell Rockstar had the bandwidth and the coding to pull off a fun game mode, but there’s a significant lack of budget where you’ll just be doing things with John, and not having the time for any back-and-forth dialogue or teamwork in missions.

I complained about Landon Ricketts last time and he’s arguably even worse here. You give him undead bait tonic as well as some dynamite and that’s literally it. Suddenly all the shit and indifference he had for John is absent, albeit the smug is more deliberate and noticeable. Of course the cutscenes were entertaining, but in some cases like with Ricketts, all it would end with would be one or two cutscenes. They just didn’t have all the money in the world to do what they really wanted, and that problem becomes prominent the more you play through the campaign.

The worst would be Nigel West Dickens, one of the most fun characters returning to sell fake elixir to the citizens...... and all you do for him is collect flowers you can already find in the base game. It’s such needless and barebones time waste when you know just from the actual missions you had done with Nigel before that it could’ve been way more exciting.

 

This horror story wouldn’t be complete without Seth Briars. He fits in more than naturally and manifests plenty of the surrealism being shown. Seth implements gameplay objectives that already needed to be fulfilled, but the mission setup was at least done more tastefully.

I didn’t understand at first why the zombies played cards and danced with Seth besides absurdity sake, but then it clicked how often he’d talk kindly to the bodies he was exhuming. John naturally saw Seth as insane (and he was), except Marston himself overlooked being responsible for plenty of bodies reaching cemeteries in the first place. I think Seth made it a point somewhere that he was the only one giving those poor bastards company in a long time. Which yeah, demented Ed Gein serial killer behavior. But if anything, the undead make Seth less lonely and more alive.



Most of what you’re doing with or without story missions would be saving every last town from zombie herds, cleansing graveyards and rescuing survivors from further attacks.

Money currency does not exist in DLC, and you realize quick how scarce ammo can be when there’s no shootouts and no merchants to back you up.

Cryptic doomsday graffiti on the town buildings range from literal context of zombies taking over, to just stuff left over from Marston’s personal dire. Dutch’s last words being one of the graffiti choices.

The honor and fame system is gone entirely, guess it was more convenient when John was among the living.

 


Rockstar’s satire blended in swimmingly for the genre leap.

The townsfolk that previously respected and admired John were now timid idiots blaming the outbreak on Jews and foreigners. A good handful of on-screen deaths are a direct result of them all being such dumb motherfuckers.



A fan favorite sidequest was R* delivering on past speculation from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. GTA players who attempted hunting for Bigfoot in the forest would find Sasquatch in Undead Nightmare for real this time. The achievement was called “Six Years in The Making” because it was on the dot six years after San Andreas had released. A meme in the Rockstar world ever since!

 

So much from amateur zombie films had been embraced.

The music was always a strong hallmark for Red Dead, so you get a good dosage of Pulp Fiction style surfer rock.


In spite of any shortcomings, it’s played very straight like an old Halloween special should. 


The cause of the curse is revealed to have been egotistical Abraham Reyes taking an Aztec artifact from its burial so he could obtain immortality.

The original game had Reyes go from being a funny asshole to someone who would starve and kill his citizens in the years to come, so this was a way to dial that back a little and still keep him cartoonishly on brand. 



The final mission stopping Reyes (Bad Voodoo!!) and advancing in the catacombs to return the artifact just feels nice replaying every year.

 



For gameplay purposes, you’re obviously not going to buy a DLC with zombies and then finish it with what you paid for being gone.

But you do get the satisfaction of John Marston singlehandedly ending the apocalypse and returning to his family in loving arms.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

[On a Pale Dead Horse]


Again. Gameplay purposes.


The plot ends on an ambiguous few months of normalcy before John’s eventually killed, and Seth takes the artifact precisely as Abraham did before.

 

Rather than showing a character die the same way twice, they don’t dwell on that and instead have John Marston cheat death.


Another epic feel good moment. A more spooky tone of the gunslinger’s theme plays while our hero emerges from his grave with gun rack in handy.

John being buried with holy water that protected his soul. 

Despite the artifact still being stolen with no way of once again returning it, Aztec gods have not forgotten John. Everyone left alive can only see Zombie Marston as the human he was before death. Only the undead can recognize that he too has left the ways of all flesh.

 

It’s a great way to end off, even if most would just reload a save game where John is still alive.



Does leave you with some... interesting implications about the ‘back to normal’ phase with the world that you can’t really see.


When John returned to Jack and Abigail, the wife and son had no recollection of not being with the living besides going a little crazy. John’s words to calm them down supposedly worked once their curse had been lifted.

So that leaves you to wonder if the people who survived still have their memories of the curse intact, or if they’d only recognize the vast amount of bodies Marston had left. If it would all just be a way of going full circle to blame John for murders.


Not too clear how much time John had left in those last few months, but a grace period nonetheless. Suppose for the original that you never had to do the last mission right away.

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It’s stayed in my top 5 since its release in 2010, and I wanted to post in full about it awhile ago, but it’s a fairly exhausted topic.



Most games by Rockstar, I’ve picked up per its release date. The last, Red Dead Redemption 2, arriving when everything became all digital anyway, so it was the mere click of a button. Not in the case of the original title, where I’d roll over to the shit-pit that was GameStop and grab something where the physical cover alone was enough to solidify a ‘wow.’




My last replay of this campaign was sometime after my one and only playthrough of the sequel back in 2018 - - really 2019 on count of how late in the year 2 came out.
 

This time around, I’m revisiting after a very extensive replay of Grand Theft Auto IV (2008).
 

GTA IV specifically was very much the blueprint for both Redemption’s world, and just how the story of John Marston would be delivered. Both titles brought on a high definition era and redefined many of its qualities. 

There would be no John Marston without Niko Bellic, so I’m going to focus a lot on that aspect instead of the sequel that simply expanded on something that had already existed and thrived for years. 

- - - - - - - - - - 

[New Austin Chapter]

“We die alone, but we live among men.”


IV and Redemption begin with our lead hero exiting a boat, exhibiting very different, yet equally sinister slices of the supposed “American Dream.”

You boot up GTA IV for the first time - - Soviet Connection is blaring. The theme does not let up. Crime, alongside all of Niko’s baggage from the Serbian war follows him where ever he goes. In spite of this, Liberty City is Bellic’s home to stay. No one in Niko’s story truly wishes for revenge more than Niko himself.


John Marston isn’t given the same luxury of wanting revenge. He’s ordered to enact such a thing for Bureau agents not wanting to get their hands dirty.

John already had his life of crime, something he left long ago. Only through sudden intimidation and kidnapping of his loved ones was John forced to confront his past head on.

 

In contrast to the predecessor, Red Dead Redemption’s introduction barely wastes any breath. A simple, stand-alone depressing stroke of a piano is the choice of music you are first greeted with. The end of the west.

John doesn’t mutter a single word until you get to the gameplay. For the first few minutes, you’re left with train passengers discussing  good and evil, alongside aviation.


Ultimately, you couldn’t ask for a more appropriate start to this adventure.

In spite of what’s at stake, Marston’s in control of the narrative. John’s motives and ambitions are all heard from John’s mouth as he’s riding horseback. You never get it second hand, and that’s immediately what defines him as a protagonist. 


Something that’s stuck with me forever since first playing was John initially confronting former friend Bill Williamson at Fort Mercer. You’re naturally used to the Rockstar main lead being vulgar and snippy on the automatic, but here you’re given someone who genuinely wants the best out of the situation.

John’s former gang, the Van Der Linde gang, wasn’t something they precisely mapped out for you from the beginning. It’s meant to be a subject that only expands as you go along. For the sake of the beginning, Bill Williamson is the big and bad.



Most of the GTAs begin with a betrayal, or lead up to a big betrayal in the following acts. And while it’s something that still happens in this game as well... central betrayal had already happened off screen.

Again, John trusts you with all of the information he provides. You don’t get a flashback scene. You don’t see his wife and son until the game decides you are ready.


Marston’s tasked with hunting down his old friends (dead or alive, more so dead) in order to earn his freedom. He further justifies the act by proclaiming they all left him to die in a past life.

Seeing as John takes a shotgun blast to the ribs within seconds of first confronting Bill, it’s safe to say old habits die hard...



Bonnie MacFarlane, a young woman maintaining a ranch with her father, gets Marston to a doctor and looks after him for the next few days on her property.

Marston temporarily wears a cast, and will periodically hold onto where he was shot. For its time, it was an amazing detail to not only show John’s strength/durability, but also present this mortality factor where the guy you’re controlling isn’t as untouchable as you’d think. Niko & John’s gunshot wounds are otherwise purely cosmetic.


 


Bonnie MacFarlane: Red Dead Redemption’s introductory guardian angel and tutorial guide.

Given their charming chemistry and the fact she’s the first lady, let alone first loyal acquaintance John’s shown to have in RDR... the player would naturally reach the conclusion that they’d be a great couple. And I’m glad the relationship was never reduced to such a thing. 


Bonnie’s voice isn’t always the most pleasant to listen to, but she is a part of the more positive female portrayals in games. She’s entirely honest and keeps to a lifestyle that doesn’t ‘condemn’ her. Let alone how happy she is with it, even when she knows the business has problems.

 


GTA IV either had commentary on misogyny, or otherwise simply had misogynistic humor. A good foil Niko had would be his best friend’s sister. She grew up in a house full of Irish gangsters for a family. Her key source of function in the plot was how she looked at someone else who’s fucked up, and the killing didn’t impress her.

Roman Bellic gets to a point where he pleads for his cousin to give up the violence and vengeance; Kate McReary’s the one who knows pleading doesn’t work. Kate’s a positive portrayal as she’s the only one to point out Niko’s bullshit to his face multiple times. And she does this while respecting Niko Bellic the person, not Niko Bellic the killer.
 

You get A LOT more of this in Red Dead Redemption.
 

Niko’s so invested and praised in contract killing all around Liberty City that he develops an ego by the time he’s barely stepped foot in the central island.

ALL of the Redemption characters brush off John Marston’s bounty hunter & gunslinger skills. And I do mean every single one. In his world, any man can do that. Thinly veiled threats are muttered from time to time, but Marston typically doesn’t consider himself as anything special. With or without the reputation of an outlaw.

 




The player doesn’t fully know yet about Marston’s already existing farm in Beecher’s Hope. 


John helps out MacFarlane’s Ranch by any means. Even climbing and jumping inside a burning barn to free all of the trapped horses. In doing this, Marston doesn’t ask anything from Bonnie, other than to be a friend and potentially help his own business in the future.

John goes from owing 15 dollars for the doctor bill (lol) to being someone the MacFarlanes are in tremendous debt towards, just out of loyalty.

 

Bonnie can’t help in the Williamson pursuit, but she does direct you over to Marshal Johnson in the town of Armadillo.


By the time you reach Armadillo, at least back then... that was your first go at exploring the map early on. You’d have no idea how big the world truly is. The mountain path leading into the town by itself was fucking beautiful, even now. Forget the sequel. Games today seriously struggle maintaining the art direction of something close to decades old.

Redemption’s towns and regions nail exactly how it’s like in the old movies. I think that’s a key difference that helps. With Number 2, you’re playing a blatant hyper realistic western shooter RPG. Here, you’re playing something timeless, and you’re playing a Clint Eastwood flick all at once.


Marshal Johnson, again, adds to the immersion. He’s played off very much identical to how he would be played in any random spaghetti western.

You could say I have a better understanding of Marshal and Marston’s dynamic now compared to launch. He had more reason to be skeptical of Marston than other characters. He makes it known. I always enjoyed the comradery but I understand it’s not purely for comradery sake. 

Probably says something that with corruption and deadly gangs leaking about, this former gang member was the best thing to have happened to the town, as well as the region in a long time.

 


Strangers (and Freaks) was a gameplay element first featured in GTA IV that made its way here. Became the norm for HD era Rockstar.

GTA IV Strangers, you’d just find a random character on the street, drive them somewhere or have a scripted gunfight, and you’d be done.

Red Dead, basically I could do without being forced to play Liar’s Dice, or be forced to grab some random herbs in the middle of no where. All to really just get one extra cutscene.

There are a couple Strangers that are so obscure that the casual player would’ve never known they existed. There’s one where you buy the freedom of a Chinese slave and then wait a couple days before you find him high on opioids. 

Obviously the most valuable Stranger encounters are the ones that extend/challenge Niko and John’s moral compass.

Niko will make it known he doesn’t have the time, but will still make the occasional good deed. The main game will provide individual player choices whether to spare and kill from time to time, but Strangers often has Niko acting good on his own instinct. It’s very much Niko testing his own free will, he deep down struggles with a lot of the orders he’s given and yearns to be free.

John helps people in Red Dead because he wants to be useful with a head on his shoulders, although Red Dead gets about as cynical, if not, more cynical than IV sometimes. 


Two people stranded in the desert. One thought “God” would help her, the other so stubborn about going by his own directions that he puts a gun to your head so you won’t help him. At least one of them was definitely very dead after repeat encounters (starved), but John always just left with his tail tucked tight. If you were getting help from Niko Bellic, it’s almost not an option. I think Niko can be more persistent, and John often reaches the conclusion that some, like himself, are beyond saving.

 

Red Dead Redemption debuted with this edge of an honor + fame system. Halfway into all of my past playthroughs of this game, I’ve had John be regarded as a gunslinger and a hero. By the end, NPCs around towns will know and respect John Marston’s name. Nuns will gift him. One guy I saved found me at another time and gave me 54 dollars just because he wanted to.

I’ve never known anyone - a single person - to have ever played John with low honor. The system’s more or less there to encourage as well as reward you for being good during gameplay.

 


Marston encounters a figure known only as the Strange Man; Top hat with mustache and elegant suit. Not of this world. He’s a figment of the afterlife who’s tallying John Marston’s sins.

Besides some of the world’s most powerful foreshadowing, this was an impressive feat for Rockstar to play around with supernatural elements.

I’m always fascinated by the harshness of Strange Man’s encounters. 100 good deeds from John Marston inevitably fails outweighing just one massacre. John’s alive in the moment, and yet his life is remarked as already gone when speaking to this entity. Nothing about it is over-the-top or overtly antagonistic, which is part of why it’s so damn chilling. Phenomenal “look in the mirror” storytelling that actually works.

 



Marston & Johnson’s attempts at apprehending Williamson had shown to be messy.

While the game paints this picture that Bill Williamson’s an uncultured half-wit... his gang is shown to break into innocent people’s homes. Raping the women and hanging/mutilating the men.

The women that survive take righteous anger in the Marshal Johnson. 


There’s also the separate event where John saves Bonnie MacFarlane from being hanged by Williamson’s men in a ransom trap. Was never too fond of that mission, but understand why they did it.

The tortured women of Ridgewood Farm provided a more substantial stance on John being delusional that his past way of life would never have always resorted to that.

John will describe his time in the Van Der Linde gang in the same robinhood esque fashion, but also suppress Dutch’s brutality as it hits too close for comfort.





John Marston had to band together a team to stop Bill’s terrorism, and this is where the chapter takes a much crucial lighthearted derail.


Besides the support of the Marshal, you gather the allegiance of a snake oil salesman (Nigel West Dickens), a literal madman exhuming bodies at cemeteries for treasure (Seth Briars), and a drunken Irishman known only as... Irish.
 

Nigel West Dickens as the old timey conman always screamed good natured fun. His role in the story and his banter with John Marston was simply one of a kind. It makes sense that John had grown to like Nigel the most out of the New Austin trinity.


Seth Briars is a fucking deranged gremlin, which is also why you gotta love him. I can’t tell you how fucking hilarious it was each and every time that all of his efforts in obtaining treasure were wasted on a glass eye. CLASS ACT!

Irish, again, is just Irish. It’s understandable for a western set in 1911 to do this stereotype, but it comes after GTA IV where Packie McReary was one of the greatest Irish characters in fiction without needing to put on a leprechaun voice.


The allegiance ends the chapter with a grand payoff.

The Assault on Fort Mercer.


With the help of his new friends, John performs a triumphant gatling gun attack on the gang hideout.

All of Williamson’s men are dead. Gang officially disbanded.


The story advances where Bill Williamson, now on his own, flees to Nuevo Paraíso to reunite with Javier Escuella; the other wanted ex-member of the Van Der Linde gang. 



John Marston’s going to Mexico...





- - - - - - - - - -

[Revolución!] 


John Marston and Irish arrive to the country on a raft.

They had been in the river from dusk til dawn fighting off bandits from the other side.


The first horse ride into Mexico is something that’s stayed in my brain since 2010. Even now, if you made me point to the most lovely display of modern gaming; I’d look no further than the Far Away segment. It’s forever that powerful to me. The sequel tries living up to it multiple times when there’s just no replicating the original feeling.

 

 

The music that plays during battles of this whole chapter in general is still out of this world. Real heavy on the sax! 


 


John Marston arrives into the town of Chuparosa. (My favorite destination in the entire game)


While in Chuparosa, John meets western legend, Landon Ricketts. With supervision and sharpshooter training, Landon & John make a pair of two aged gunslingers in a era that’s *seemingly* bested the both of them in some ways.

This is where my opinion changes more negatively compared to several years ago.

Landon Ricketts is a vain, prolapsed anus.

He’s the in-universe folklore legend who simultaneously has the most obnoxious fucking self-absorbed opinion of himself.

Just because Landon’s modeled after Lee Van Cleef and can handle himself doesn’t mean he carries any actual wisdom. 

Ricketts moved and retired to somewhere that had been more convenient for him to settle quietly, 

He says all this unwarranted catty shit to John out of his own insecurities. All the big talk, and mind you; Landon Ricketts is no where to be found when the Revolution really pops off. He’s around and in your ear for a whopping 3 missions and then fucks off into nothingness.


You’re supposed to value the dynamic of this duo when I don’t believe either truly enjoy the company. John very much knows right away that Landon’s an entitled asshat who can’t handle being a wash up. At least Marston works on a goal without begging you to know his name is John Marston.

 

Landon Ricketts makes scarce, not before introducing you to Luisa Fortuna. A teacher and a noble woman amongst the rebels. She will be important later.

 


John’s real first order of business in the Williamson/Escuella pursuit was reaching the town of Escalera and seeking help from the Mexican army.

Marston meets with Vincente De Santa, as well as Colonel Agustin Allende.


Allende was a sadistic, genocidal rapist of a military leader, with De Santa being an equally morally bankrupt accomplice as the Colonel’s captain in command.


There’s enrichment to be had with this part of the game as you’re really seeing the psyche of evil, and how a government rooted in evil tend to treat their own side shitty.

Allende and De Santa are men who laugh in your face, smile and only speak of promises that they’d never intend on truly delivering.

Only, De Santa’s shit-eating grin typically goes right away the second Allende yells at him like a dog.

The other army captain, Espinoza doesn’t at all hide the fact he’s got no respect for De Santa.


These men at the end of the day are all responsible for killing hundreds of rebels and burning their homes, and then you have this short stubby fascist with an eyepatch who hates his rival captain’s homosexuality. They’re all just very mean pieces of shit that have somehow existed as a function for that long. 

 

In the grand scheme of things, Javier Escuella was Allende’s vital muscle for quite some time, and you were foolish to believe the Colonel was going to give that up. Whether or not Allende could deliver on Williamson and Escuella wasn’t the point. He was never going to.

John is lead on for awhile longer. Realizes on his own that he was killing undeserving, throwing fire bottles into houses just for him to not be respected.

Marston says he belongs to no one on his search for who he’s after. Taken directly from Niko Bellic.

Espinoza says otherwise, but oh well.

 


Meeting with Luisa Fortuna reveals the true hardships of honest rebels during your violent escapades with their common enemy. Luisa’s father was killed. Her underaged sister, you have to escort out of the country with bullets flying everywhere. Like many others, the Fortuna family home would not be seen standing much longer. 

The bad you’ve done is hardly confronted, and if so, this was the opportunity to make things right.

You’ve heard from your recent employers about Abraham Reyes - - rebellion leader.

You’re tasked with saving Reyes from his arranged execution on the grounds of El Presido. 


Army officials dead. Reyes now allied with Marston.


Something very amusing about the time spent with De Santa and Reyes is seeing two smarmy guys speaking ill on each other.

Luisa has this cruel running gag at her expense that she’s never made aware of. She has you break Reyes free, thinking the two will eventually marry when they claim their freedom. Abraham when left alone can never remember Luisa’s name. If she’s not “Laura” she’s “a peasant girl with a tight cunt.”


In spite of the cruel gag, Luisa isn’t any less of a genuinely honorable person in this story, and I’ve always been more than happy with such.

Abraham Reyes is dark comedy in general. You’d think good and evil would be set in stone for this whole chapter, but being with this rebel leader takes you to this sharp nihilist turn. The best motivational speaker towards freedom is a simple womanizer who’d have a gold statue of himself if he could.

One thing John found troublesome. He speaks to Reyes about his motives. Marston’s past life in the gang. His former leader, Dutch’s descent into madness. Abraham obtains first-hand knowledge of Dutch’s horrible ways, and propels to wanting to shake Dutch’s hand. Abraham by himself shouldn’t go unmonitored, but John vaguely seeing another Dutch in the making is, well... yeah. It’s fucked.
 

 


You meet back with De Santa some odd days later where him and Allende deliver “good news.”

Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella captured in Chuparosa, which definitely isn’t a trap. Yep. It’s a trap.

Turns out going against government’s orders would get you killed. But credit where credit’s due... fucking Abraham Reyes saved Marston’s life with a rifle in hand. 


Espinoza’s immediately killed by John ahead of the betrayal... and eventually De Santa meets his end at the cemetery of Sepulcro. A good thing Seth wasn’t there to take his badge and uniform.

 

Surprisingly, suddenly the rebels aren’t so weak in the fight after all. 


And unlike the army... Reyes is the one to deliver on the location of Javier Escuella. 

 

It’s a bitter reunion, but John finally gets to confront Javier for being left behind in the past. While you can’t evade what needs to be done, some semblance of closure is there. 

Javier’s death will bring on the first appearance of bureau agents Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham since the very beginning of the game.

John was not at all happy with what had happened. However, this just left unfinished business with Bill Williamson before the work in Nuevo Paraíso was done.



The war had reached its climax in Escalera. 


Burnings, bodies on the street, gun squads. No matter.

Luisa was a casualty and hero of Mexico, even if Abraham kept calling her Laura.


You use the army’s own gatling gun against them with glorious victory.
 

Williamson and Allende flee the Colonel’s mansion, only this time - - no one was getting away. 



In a last ditch effort after the wagon breaks down, Agustin Allende takes his sword and “captures” Bill Williamson for you to claim.

*Allende dies from Marston headshot*


“Alright, John. I’ll come quietly...”
 

*Bill falls from the shots of John’s cattleman revolver*




At last, the Revolution was won, and the journey in Mexico was now complete.



Abraham Reyes becomes the new leader, and soon-to-be dictator of the land.

While disheartening that things might not really change for the better after all, John still urges Abraham to use his powers for good before bidding farewell.

 


The game obviously doesn’t end here, but this chapter high and low is the undisputed peak. It’s the one part of the game you really get to soak in and enjoy. Of course, I’m biased. I’m Salvadoran and so the Spanish was much appreciated. A great dive into culture that the original westerns, ie the source material otherwise shittily executed.

I’m sure I’d feel the same way still if I was actually born in the United States to boot.

Even though most of the chapter’s characters were assholes... that alone doesn’t make them bad characters. I didn’t like when GTA TBOGT called me a four letter word that I’ve been called before while walking around my own neighborhood. So this made up for that. I applaud them refraining from easy below-the-belt stereotypes and instead applied negative attributes that were constructive as well as coherent to the plot.

 



John Marston rides off away from Mexico into the sunset.


The Colonel’s body laying deserted in the middle of the trail...

 



- - - - - - - - - -

[West Elizabeth]

“Our time has passed, John.”



Marston’s back to where it all started in Blackwater, answering to agent Ross and Fordham.

Back in the United States for a minute, and already a swift patriotic kick in the ass.

 


Dutch Van Der Linde.

The brains of it all gone haywire.

Dutch is the last target.



Going after Dutch was something John already knew by the previous chapter.

Nonetheless, the tone here is understandably grueling.


After his last two brief encounters throughout the ordeal, Edgar Ross finally spews out his diatribe on salvation, and says everything to remind John of what scum he is. Not at all grateful that gangs were eliminated and a tyrannical government from another country was dismantled just so two men were taken down like asked.


Accompanying Ross... you get a new aged high powered pistol... and a car! That only they can drive! Womp womp!

 

 

John had spent his time only describing Dutch as someone who had ideals in a past life and simply went mad.

In spite of that, Dutch Van Der Linde’s infinitely more crafty and opportunistic than the game has been letting on.


Dutch saw what the US government had done to Native Americans and formed a new gang in the forests of pissed off men who wanted their land back.


It’s a very grotesque line of fire you see RD playing with.

What the United States did was already heinous enough. Then you have this 50 year old lunatic in long johns who’s getting enjoyment and sport out of the bloodshed.


It’s in some ways worse than what the rebels back in Mexico had to deal with, because at least plenty of the rebels would rise above the torture and win the movement even temporarily.

But what Dutch is doing only leaves you with hundreds of natives being killed for his benefit.

It’s the ugliest scenario they could have conjured up.



I think mainstream Red Dead audience gets too caught up in the idea of “Dutch gone crazy” and not maybe that this was always entirely who he was to begin with.



Dutch uses these men to rob the Bank of Blackwater.

Strange Men reminded John a long time ago about a Heidi McCourt, who was shot in the head by Dutch during the Blackwater Massacre. An innocent bystander described to have had her own eye hanging from a thread, with her brains against the wall.


After all those years, Dutch returns to this town to destroy more people’s lives.


When ever John & Dutch meet together face to face for the first time in ages during the heist, it ends, again, with another poor lady taking a shot to the head. Another cowardly, yet successful escape for Dutch.

How does Marston witness the same awful things a decade apart, and still reaches the conclusion that this wasn’t always an absolute monster? I’ll always believe John tried to do good even with previous ties. It’s only him routinely making excuses where you don’t fully get it. He did that shit even with Bill.
 

 

This is shorter than the chapter before, as the game understands that Marston’s tale needs wrapping up.

Your quest for Van Der Linde is accompanied by a cocaine addicted Professor MacDougal, and Nastas, a federal informant from the reserve who saw the evil in Dutch.

A little dark humor, mostly one sided racist banter for MacDougal to bash Nastas and his people as savages. 


Incase you didn’t know, Rockstar Games is very... very British.

GTA evolved to have accurate portrayals of different cultures. Between the lines, GTA San Andreas was written by DJ Pooh (Friday). And when San Andreas returned for GTA V, Franklin & Lamar’s actors have gone on the record saying they had to improvise and completely change the scripts to something that didn’t stink of London slang.


Professor MacDougal annoyed some of the fans, but you can tell Rockstar had too much fun going over his shit the same way they often tackle their own American experience via GTA radio stations.



 

Everything’s brought to a seeming close when the Bureau agents, American soldiers and Marston advance toward the snowy mountains of Cochinay with military weaponry to eliminate Van Der Linde once and for all.


This had all the makings of stellar battles as before, except it’s nothing too pleasurable.

Any joy to be had when ultimately confronting Dutch is squandered by Dutch’s overall message, and suicide.


When I’m gone, they’ll just find another monster. They have to, to justify their wages.



I don’t share the sentiment of sympathy for Dutch the way other players do.

It’s possible for me to hate what he did, and also detest the work of the government agents.


John regroups with Edgar Ross, and that gunshot to Dutch’s already mangled corpse was just self-fulfilling tastelessness from a busy body of an office clerk.

 


Nonetheless, the dirty government work was over and the routinely spoken reward had arrived.

Marston’s told to get back to his family on his farm in Beecher’s Hope...



- - - - - - - - - -

 

[The Last Enemy That Shall be Destroyed]


John finally had his wife and his son back. Abigail and Jack Marston. Back in his arms once more.

 

No more bounty hunting.

No more disastrous threats.

No more senseless murder.



John Marston felt as though he finally obtained redemption and could start anew like he always wanted for himself and the few loved ones he has left.


Abigail had lived the life with John. She knew the gang life as well as him.

Jack was 16 and a child who saw death more than once. His relationship with his dad was uncomfortable at best because there was always the element of when John would be absent again.

The word of mouth spoken about John isn’t always pleasant no matter how high the honor system is. To many, he’s still a killer, and Jack knows of this.

The Marston son spends much of his time hiding away in books that correlate with what John has done. It’s an easier escape for him than the reality that what his father and his family endured over the years was not at all entertaining for them.


 

Instead of shooting people, John now uses the same rifles to keep crows away from his corn, and to hunt for the family’s food.
 

An old kook named Uncle (no one’s actual uncle) was a leftover from the Van Der Linde gang who did no real killing. Thus, was under the radar of the Bureau and Pinkertons.

Uncle had lived with the Marstons for years at their ranch, almost like a grandfather. He’s a side of the harsh past that was actually good natured. Just comically lazy.

Uncle had watched over the ranch for John all this time, which meant things ultimately sucked for keeping business afloat.
 



John & Uncle encounter rustlers, and the player’s given an option to pursue them or leave them be

Upon letting the rustlers run off, alive....

John: “I’m done fighting a fight that ain’t mine.”
Uncle: “You really have changed.”

This was, in my eyes, the most underrated exchange in all of Red Dead’s storyline.

It negates everything that suggested John Marston was perpetually doomed.

Everything he did, and the most gratifying feeling was to let a few nobodies live as free as them, regardless of wrongdoing.





John brings Jack along for the hunting, all around the woods Dutch had previously lingered.

John struggles ensuring his boy that all the troubles of before are over. Needless to say, the bonding’s very crucial for the both of them. These missions are much more easygoing, but it’s the uncertainty that drives them. Fighting so long to be free, and the stress doesn’t fully vanish when you are.



Like promised long ago, Bonnie MacFarlane helps John with the ranch.

Revisiting MacFarlane’s Ranch with both the wife and the son.

Those farming tutorials from the very beginning of the game make their way back, and John couldn’t be more happier because it’s the life he wanted. A mundane but long haul reward for the player with these missions.



There’s dialogue on the journey back home with materials where Abigail doesn’t think they’ll get away free. 


Now, when Kate McReary expressed doubt in the same exact way during GTA IV’s conclusion... that meant Kate’s death. Within seconds.

 

But here, as time went on, you’re left with the plausibility that maybe things can be safe.

Regardless, any player of GTA IV who moved on to the following R* should’ve been wary right as Abigail said that. Problem being that Red Dead’s tragedy had a little something else in mind.


Before: The ultimate consequence was losing someone the protagonist cared about.

Now: “The Day John Marston Stopped Shooting.”



Everything at Beecher’s Hope was finally perfect and content. 

John and his son Jack were in the barn speaking as comfortably as ever on a bright sunny morning.


Any replay of this mission is always met with the utterly cold, mocking foreshadowing of John’s death. Thinly veiled wholesome dialogue, at that.

The topic of aviation from Red Dead’s opening sequence was brought back full circle. Jack Marston describes it as “one of the machines that can turn men into angels.” In the moment, it’s the loveliest thing John had ever heard.

 

When you’re playing the final act for the first time, you don’t even notice that Uncle is outside the barn window scoping out the army men emerging from the hill. 

By the time John knows, there’s absolutely no time to act.

Jack’s ordered to go inside with his mother.


John: “Well, old man, looks like things is about to get settled once and for all.”
Uncle: “So it seems.”

 

Edgar Ross sends the US Army to kill one man in broad daylight.

This was always going to be the outcome, but John wasn’t wrong in his naivety that this wouldn’t happen to him. He did everything he was told until he made himself one loose end.


Uncle’s given a chance to run away, and he doesn’t. And stays and helps fight off the troops. Really, the first one to open defense fire.

The stealth attack becomes so severe that Uncle doesn’t stay alive for very long. More and more soldiers swarm around the house.


Jack Marston, aged 16, previously not being brave enough to shoot a bear... takes his rifle and picks off mercenaries. 



No time left to spare, John Marston guides his family to safety.

Abigail and Jack escape the property through the back of the barn with the remaining horse.


To make it clear there would be no running after this, 

To make things so his family could finally live at peace,

John Marston was left to face these men alone.



As tragic as it was, not a total cheap shot.

John gifts you, the player, one last time with the ability to take as many of Ross’ men with him to the ground.

Once there’s been years to soak in the sadness of the ending, you grow to appreciate that it was an *almost* fair final fight.

Taking them head on with one handgun before swiftly being shot to smithereens.



Edgar Ross walks off with the remaining men after John was executed.


Jack and Abigail go back to find the patriarch in a pool of his own blood.


All either could do was grieve.


John was no more...



- - - - - - - - - -


[Remember My Family]


The year is 1914.


John, Abigail, Uncle... all buried over the hill of Beecher’s Hope. 

Strange Man had told John that it was a “fine spot.”

 

Jack Marston looks over their graves at age 19 before going on a trip.


Jack roams what’s left of the old west with the same honor and fame as his father.

All of John’s baggage transferred over to the point where his son dons his father’s hat, and can wear the same attire as Jack aged into his old man’s looks.



People responded fairly negatively to this player replacement. Was seen as a cardboard cutout of a prolific character, only less charming.

But it’s somber as this kid in the end wasn’t allowed to live his own life. He did the one thing his dad never wanted and became his dad.




No triumphant ending shootout.

What happens, Jack travels on horse and stalks the family of Ross before he can locate and kill Edgar in 1 secluded duel with no witnesses.
Still, a good eye-for-an-eye end.


Where one outlaw’s avenged... another outlaw is born.


- - - - - - - - - 


I’m glad I gave the story another spin even when I knew it too well to the point of fatigue.


I do feel for Jack more this time around, all of his lines about being alone are depressing. The same cold emptiness from IV’s ending, except no one’s calling to go to the strip club or go bowling.



This all took days to write, and I recently did a 7 and a half hour session of the DLC for the Halloween season. So yeah. Holy shit.

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