#the real tragedy is javier escuella

[naturalharmonicas]

My brain is like a little rdr2 carousel that chooses a different character every few weeks. It's like "hmm who am i gonna analyse to the point of brainrot next?".

In my Javier Escuella era rn (I'm going insane).

[eveenstar]

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝒶𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒

𝙰 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝟸 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸𝙸

Summary:  In 2031, a journal is found. It tells the story of a woman named Y/N L/N, who claims to be a time traveler from 2021. This is the story of her life.

Tags/Warnings: Nothing to add yet.

Note: Also, this is a Javier Escuella x reader. The reader is also female, sorry! 

“What the hell?”  

“Is she alright?”

“Don't just stand there, help the poor girl!”

I remember waking up on a bed, not soft at all, reminded me of a rock.

The rays of the sun made the girl groan and sit on the bed. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around and noticed the strange ambient she was in. A few people walking around, yet none of them noticed she was awake. The woman got up slowly, swaying on her feet, and took slow steps towards her bag left on the ground, until a small voice startled her.

“Mama, the weird lady is up!”

“Already?”

(Y/N) sighed, her head up, and watching as all the eyes were on her. Her mind was still processing the information from the past hours, time-traveling. Right, right, she knew what to do. At least, what she was supposed to do. Her body felt different, probably still adjusting to going through a portal, her mouth was dry and she could still taste a bit of dirt on her lips from the fall.

“Hey, lady, you good?” A silvery voice ringed, waking (Y/N) from her thoughts. Looking at the group of people surrounding her. The man wearing a sombrero got closer to her with a cautious look on his face. The girl didn’t answer, the shock beginning to take over her body. Only know did the poor girl realized what she had done.

“Javier, be careful. She could be…dangerous.” Another voice coming from behind him said.

Dangerous? Well, she kinda is, right? Being a skilled hacker and knowing her way on a gun, but that probably wouldn’t serve much in this era. The hacker part, at least. (Y/N) focused on the loud voices coming near them, they were arguing, and probably about her too.

“Why are we keeping her alive, Dutch? The woman came through that shiny golden circle on the sky and you decide to keep her here?” A blond man waved his arm towards her angrily. (Y/N) recognized him from the old picture the other woman had shown to her; Micah Bell.

“We can’t just kill her, Micah. We need to hear her first.” The other man, Dutch van der Linde, or the dude with fancy clothes, replied. Seemingly annoyed by Micah.

“We have far too many mouths to feed already. We can’t have another one.” A feminine harsh voice announced. “Who comes through something like that in the middle of nowhere? In our camp? She’s dangerous.”

The woman let out a heavy and annoyed sigh. Crossing her arms and looking to the gang, with her brows furrowed. She wouldn’t let them talk like that about her like she wasn’t there. Everyone quickly looked at her.

“If you let me explain myself first before any of you open your mouths.” (Y/N) could see the surprised look on a few faces, but an angry one on the others. Maybe having an attitude wouldn’t do her any good here, probably should get rid of that before causing any problems amongst the gang. After all, she needed to gain their trust.

“I’m sorry, Miss…?”

“(L/N).”

“I’m sorry, Miss (L/N), they can be quite suspicious about strange folks. Of course, we���ll let you explain yourself after…that.” Dutch spoke softly with an educated tune, being the calmest and reasonable of them all. The girl took a few steps back, stumbling on her words a few times, even mumbling in Italian. Everyone’s eyes were on her like hawks, most of them curious but suspicious. It wasn’t hard to understand them, a random woman popping out of a hole on the sky dressed weirdly would any person be suspicious and probably very shocked.

(Y/N) was taking too long. Hearing a click of the tongue made her straighten up and fixing her eyes on the wanted gang.

“Well, err, I am…from the future-“

“The future?! I can’t listen to that bullshit!” Micah replied almost immediately.

“Shut the fuck up I’m talking!” The sudden shout made their eyes widen a bit, but she could still hear a few mumbled laughs on the background. “As I was saying, I came from the future. I’m from 2021. Someone sent me here to…help you all before a big tragedy takes place.”

After seconds of shocked nonbelieving silence, a few loud voices were heard around. Mostly because they didn’t believe one single word she’d just said, others were questioning why Dutch decided to let her live and how they should just throw her on the river. But, one of the girls slowly approached her, more calmly.

“Why you?” The young brown-hair freckled woman asked, one of her brows up in a questioning way. She sounded so gentle when she spoke.

I adored Mary-Beth. I think she was the kindest and most gentle member of the Van der Linde gang.

“Oh. Well, you see….” (Y/N) gazed hesitantly to Dutch for the first time. He was watching her with his arms crossed, with a heavy brooding expression and eyes narrowed. The leader was wearing a black and red vest with a blue and white pinstripe shirt, with gold chains on his vest, with a smart black jacket and a black hat. He was taller than her and stronger; with a thick, black mustache and soul patch under his lips, he also has dark black, slick backed hair that curls at the end. Taking a mental note on his appearance, he seemed far more intimidating in real life.

I recall thinking “Damn, is that my great-grandpa? He’s hot.”. But in a serious note, he seemed to be so cold-hearted but at the same time, kind and trustworthy. He did look like a gentleman. He was an outlaw, and well, I guess it does run on the family.

What was she doing? Why did she take the stupid decision on going back to the past just because someone didn’t like how this gang’s fate ended? Many, many lives didn’t have a happy ending too. So why change only theirs? (Y/N) was already regretting the foolish decision she took, but hey, she still had that block thing to go back. Nothing was lost yet, she just had to justify herself and get the hell out of there before they decide to kill her or worse.

Hearing a forced cough woke the girl from her thoughts. Feeling embarrassed when she noticed she had been staring at him this whole time. Good, just wonderful.

“I’m Dutch’s…great-granddaughter.” The words merely escape her lips and heavens, how she felt like throwing herself out of a cliff after it. A burst of loud laughter was heard, coming from some of the men. A great joke, yes, that’s what this was. They didn’t believe her, not without proof, and she couldn’t honestly blame them.

“You can’t possibly believe this crazy woman’s words, Dutch. C’mon.”

“Miss, please elaborate on that.”

“Dutch? C’mon boss, she hit her head when she fell!” Micah shouted, not very happy with the leader deciding to hear her story before making any judgment. (Y/N) was glad for it, who knows what would happen if he decided to listen to that idiot.

She grabbed her bag and started to look for her phone, it probably wouldn’t work much there but if time traveling is a thing, maybe ghost WiFi was too. Who knows. Probably asking for too much there. (Y/N) took a few steps closer and turned it on, showing them the colorful wallpaper and the date, “2021”, proceeding to shows some pictures of streets and buildings she had on her gallery. It seemed to have worked, has everyone had a terrified look on their faces. Most of them were still a bit hesitant, and probably scared of the unknown.

The girl turned to the leader, she didn’t have any proof about being his great-granddaughter. Wait, she didn’t ask for it too. Damn it, did she just get fooled by that woman?

“I don’t have any proof, sir, but that woman told me I was…your granddaughter and needed me to save you all.” Before he replied, she added. “She did mention a one night woman you were with.”

“If what you’re telling us is the truth,” He began, slowly. Still watching her closely. “I guess you’ll have to stay with us.”

Giving the man a slight smile, the girl nodded. She heard a few angrily mumbles coming from behind them, some of the gang’s members weren’t very happy with that sudden decision. With a gentle pat on her shoulder, Dutch made his way to the middle of the camp and looked at everyone, rubbing his hands together with a serious, yet sympathetic expression.

“Family, Miss (L/N) will stay with us for the time being. I don’t want any complaints about this, she showed us proof of her story and if she’s here to help us, we should give her a home.” Nobody spoke, just silence. Maybe they didn’t want to oppose their leader. “Miss Grimshaw, please help Miss (Y/N) prepare a tent and show her around.”

The older woman nodded, looking at Dutch and then glaring suspiciously at (Y/N).

“Miss (Y/N), I would like to speak with you…privately.” Feeling a sudden jump of beat on her chest, the girl nodded. The serious tune on his voice addressing to her caught her by surprise, she didn’t like that tune coming from adults. Perhaps because every time that happened, they would blame her for something afterward and treat her like a child.

“Don’t worry, he just wants to talk to you about that great-granddaughter thing, ya know,” Mary-Beth said, giving (Y/N) a warm smile. “I’ll catch you later, ‘kay? Someone has to show you around and meet the other folks.”  

“Thanks…?” The girl tilted her head a bit. That’s right, they didn’t present themselves yet.

“Mary-Beth. You?” The young woman replied. Her name fit her perfectly, she looked like the main character of a romance novel.

“(Y/N).”

“Oh, well, nice to meet you, (Y/N). It’s better if you go now, don’t wanna keep Dutch waitin’.” Mary said, already making her way to another tent. (Y/N) nodded in agreement, putting her brave face and walking confidently to Dutch’s tent. Alright, probably not that confident, but she couldn’t let the others think she’s weak or scared now. She had a role to keep! The thought about going back to 2021 was already in the back of her mind and probably would stay there for a very long time.

[gamelyplanet-blog]

Not *that* Good: “Red Dead Redemption”

We all have them; games everyone hates that we love and, more controversially, games that everyone loves but we don’t really take to. The most recent one I’ve had to put myself through was none other than Rockstar’s much loved Red Dead Redemption (RDR), the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game wearing a Wild West hat. 

Red Dead Redemption is actually a bad game to start this series with, because not only do I understand why so many people love it, I also don’t hate it myself. At least half of the game impresses me quite a lot in fact.

For one thing, the writing is really good. Rockstar employs some legitimately good writers; even Grand Theft Auto IV, which is not well-liked by a large portion of the gaming audience, told a very engaging story with colorful and layered characters. Red Dead Redemption follows suit; there are great themes of change and consequences through the story of a former outlaw that is blackmailed to kill off his former friends and gang-mates, in the twilight of the Wild West. His blackmailers aren’t lowlifes, but the forces of “good” and “progress”, the Federal Government that shapes the modern United States of America. John Marston isn’t a deep or complex character, but he is a character easy to like and relate to. The supporting characters of both the flamboyant and the grounded flavors inject life into the story. The ending twist, even though it’s somewhat predictable (and probably spoiled for everyone, by now) has a profound impact and upon reflection, it’s the only right way for this story to end.

The voice cast is also fantastic and not a single one of the actors turns in a performance that’s anything less than stellar. The atmosphere is top-notch; this is another one of Rockstar’s strong points. I remember reliving the 1980s in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, I remember feeling like a New Yorker driving around Times Square in GTAIV and I had no problems immersing myself in the life across the frontier in the early 1900s with RDR. The visuals are a little too muddy, but they fit the setting; riding a horse across the empty planes and seeing civilization from afar is an experience that fills one with contentment; the architecture, the character designs and the fantastic music during the long treks in the wilderness easily absorbed me in the game.

I will go out of my way and assume that people who adore RDR do so primarily because of the above. I get it; I’m even with you on those. What I mind is actually sitting down and playing the damned thing.

To put it simply, I’m not sure why RDR needed to be an open-world game (marketing reasons notwithstanding). The game world is filled with random events, mini-games and hunting achievements, but do these add anything to the experience, or do they only distract the player away from the story? I find RDR suffering from GTAIV-syndrome; that game is also full of meaningless distractions, the only significant difference being that in RDR you don’t get smoke signals by Uncle in the middle of a mission asking you to go to the nearest saloon for whiskey shots. 

Upon reflection, I think that maybe the reason for the open-world approach is atmosphere. It wouldn’t be unheard of; the Mafia games did the same thing, adding a giant city in an otherwise linear third-person-shooter. One can argue that GTAIV’s overworld activities were included in that title for adding to the atmosphere as well; I can’t rightly imagine another reason that playing darts or bowling in what’s already a game of itself had another purpose. This is something I not only understand, but also appreciate quite a lot; it worked for me with both Mafia and GTAIV. But not with RDR.

I wager the reason for that is that the game’s map is massive. Yeah, okay, it’s not The Witcher 3-massive, it may actually be smaller than the modern GTA games (that is, games after Vice City), but the problem is that a lot of what makes the commute from and to missions in GTA bearable is the sight-seeing. There are pedestrians, people going about their daily lives; there is traffic that bugs out hilariously some times and has cars driving willingly onto walls; there are impressive skyscrapers towering above you and different districts that give off the illusion of a living, breathing world; and, of course, there’s a ton of beloved, licensed music blasting on the car radio, followed by hilarious commercials and made-up talk shows.

In RDR there are rocks, trees and some wildlife and that you can slaughter for the Hunter achievements. The music that operates as additional ambiance while riding in the overworld is great, sure; it’s subtle and effective. But these trips are damned long and RDR, especially in its first act, is being a complete asshole with spacing out objectives. 

Another issue I take with the overworld stuff, compared to GTA, is that Rockstar’s other juggernaut series is one in which you are a criminal. The overworld exists specifically so you can destroy it; that’s how it has always been, since the very first game, the city is there for the player to blow it up. In RDR, on the other hand, the hero (and by extension the player) are good guys. Marston is supposed to be a romanticized anti-hero, but the game operates on an Honor system and clearly doesn’t approve of you going out of your way to be a murderous psychopath that firebombs young maidens.

A lot of the overworld becomes a distraction and the game uses the long trips from one mission to the next specifically as a means to pad the playtime. This padding doesn’t end there.

The last few missions of the first act of the game are all padding. Recruiting West Dickens, Seth and Irish starts out well enough; all of them are fun characters and their missions are initially interesting, but all three have at least one mission too many that only exists to delay the attack on Fort Mercer. Missions like the second race for West Dickens only break the flow of the narrative and undercut the urgency of the situation.

It gets worse, however; the entire Mexico act, the second act of the game, is padding; not some of it, not a portion of it, but all of it. There is literally no good reason for that sizable chunk of game to exist in RDR. The story stops dead in its tracks during that segment and only gets back on track in the last mission of that act. Finding Bill Williamson is the primary purpose of John’s mission, but both he and the player get distracted for hours, until Bill magically appears and just happens to have been with that other bad guy all along. John’s actions never actually bring him closer to Bill; even after he captures Javier, finding Bill is just a giant coincidence. This is what we call “the story resolves itself” and it’s a shitty way to write a story.

The inclusion of Javier Escuella is another red flag; the man isn’t mentioned at all before and his name once the second act starts comes out of the blue; so much so, it took me a while to understand what the hell John was talking about when he mentioned him to Irish and Landon Ricketts (who is also so shoehorned, he feels the need to teach the player basic aiming with a gun six hours into the game). Javier is the only one of John’s former gang members that can be captured alive; the Feds want Bill, Dutch and John himself dead. The rationalization for this would be that Javier is Mexican and doesn’t fall under their jurisdiction or whatever, but from a writing perspective, Javier just doesn’t fit; the story never sets him up properly and he is actually never mentioned again in the story afterwards (sans one name-drop by John in the fourth act). The third act, in Blackwater, examines John’s past life as an outlaw and his gang in detail and every conversation is about Bill and Dutch. Abigail too. Javier just doesn’t exist.

It is clear, to me at least, that Mexico was an afterthought. I would assume they found the story content too short (and it is, compared to the GTA titles), so they shoved in a bundle of missions that have nothing to do with the main story to pad it out. There is some minimal thematic connection, but since none of the characters ever draws that connection in any way (subtly or overtly), it seems more like a happy coincidence. The tragedy is that if Mexico was DLC, it’d work better; it wouldn’t break flow, it wouldn’t get in the way of the story, it would feel a lot less boring and it would give Jack something to do other than being the replacement avatar for the player after John bites the dust. 

These are the things that annoy me about the game the most, but there are other, smaller annoyances. I don’t like the horses, for example; they are dumb and easy to die and if they do in a pickle, you’re screwed. It’s de-motivating as fuck taming that one great steed and seeing it jump to its own death and being replaced by the back-up shit horse.

I’m not a fan of how limiting the game can be in the freedoms it grants the player and not just with the Honor system. There was this one instance I really enjoyed; it was one of the world events that a lady asks for help and then leads you to an ambush. Once clearing the ambush, I decided not to kill her; instead, I hogtied her, took her to the port in Blackwater, and let her roll down to the bottom of the sea. Horrible death, but that’s what I play games for; to do weird shit I don’t want to do in real life. Of course, the event was never really resolved (it just went away) and any similar actions against less aggressive NPCs would give me a strike in one form or another.

Likewise, I was dissatisfied with the game’s ending, where it forces you in a duel with Agent Ross. The “Duel” mechanic is one of the worst in the game and it’s extremely unsatisfying in look and feel. That guy betrayed my entire family and killed my father, who was my own avatar as a player for countless hours; I wanted the option to choose his fate on my own. Maybe I’d kill him, maybe I’d let him go, completing the story and accepting the change the Federal Government brings, instead of forcing across the notion that the Wild West never dies. 

Of course, in reality, I just wanted to hogtie the dude and drop him in front of a moving train; it’s a tried and true execution method in the game and I’m salty I didn’t get to do it to him. But the point stands that for an open-world game, RDR is somewhat more limiting than GTA and, especially, Saints Row.

Lastly, there are some technical issues. The game is stable, but performance isn’t great on the PS3. The game looks muddy, just like GTAIV did, presumably because neither of them have antialiasing worth a damn. It’s also locked at 30 frames per second and there are noticeable framedrops in open spaces or crowded towns and settlements. Of course Rockstar was working with limiting hardware, so I can’t blame them for that, but I can certainly blame them for never porting the game on PC, where it would’ve done unlimited framerate and mods to clean up its muddy vanilla look. Dickwads. 

As I said, this wasn’t a good game to start this series with, because there is a lot of good in it that I can’t realistically deny; hell, most of the good in it, I quite enjoyed myself. For me, if the game was a more streamlined experience, like Mafia, cutting out a lot of the fat and dropping the distraction of Act II, I’d probably have loved it. Rockstar’s games have never been strong in terms of core mechanics (particularly in combat), so that was never going to make or break the game and side-content to kill time has always been part and parcel of the company’s open-world games. But as the games started becoming more serious, these activities started causing dissonance. When the overworld stops being a playground and becomes a stage instead, giving a show takes precedence over building a sandcastle. 

What I find interesting, however, is that I dislike Red Dead Redemption for the reasons that so many people dislike Grand Theft Auto IV and I like Grand Theft Auto IV for the reasons that everyone else prefers Red Dead Redemption. Both games are closely related in terms of design; they’re story-driven, serious affairs with average mechanics that utilize their overworld primarily for the illusion of their setting, rather than purely for gameplay reasons. Both are solid games by any metric known to man and yet, the most minute differences between them, the details, seem to have a different impact on their audience.