#well if i ever pick up this idea for a project I'll keep the scope small for the start at the very least

[woolydemon]

finished one animatic and being like "oh yeah that was fun but glad to be able to move onto different non animatic stuff" but then immediately smacked in the face with mental animatic of Hold It In klapolly

[rubixfox-fanblog]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: General audience

Fandom: Apex Legends

Characters: Seer, Octane and Mirage. (and other legends.)

Additional tags: Seer Out of character

Words: 2864

Summary: Octane accidentally revives Seer with stim, instead of the regular syringes they normally use, and Mirage has to deal with both of them.

Notes: finally managed to finished my fanfic and gathered the courage to post it.... Enjoy!

Tumblr note: I got my inspiration from @sweetsoftandscared. You should definitely check them out!

"This is one of the worst ideas you had since the start of this match, Silva."

"Come on Amigo, that entire sneaky stuff got me bored. Even perfect boy here almost fell asleep. We all need some action."

"Speak for yourself, I was having the time of my life!"

~~~

Seer, Octane and Mirage ended up together as a squad in the dropship. Heaven knows why. It's a squad based on the amount of disaster, instead of skill, these three would bring. Especially octane and Seer, those two definitely had a history together. But no one knows (yet) why, Well Rampart definitely knew but she wouldn't tell anyone about them.

Their battle location this time was in Olympus and their dropship flew in at the Bonsai Plasa. Seer was the one who took the lead as jumpmaster and made sure he landed at the Oasis. Everyone else already jumped earlier or later so they got all of the world to loot or observe the area.

That's where it all went wrong.

After a few minutes of gathering guns and supplies, Octane got bored (like always.) and decided to take his own lead, running off to the place where small houses gathered, the place called estates.

Seer tried to stop him, because he noticed the heartbeats of at least 3 other legends. But Octane being octane, he didn't listen at all. Throwing his jump pad in front of the other two legends, who were chasing him, launching them both,unexpectedly, in the middle of a heated battle.

Two squads

Two whole squads.... Well basically one and a half, since there was only one of the three left. So that makes one and a third. I wait, one squad. (they downed the last one while they landed)

The three legends of the remaining squad seemed to be Revenant, Wraith and Loba. Who Already noticed them as they landed on top of the middle building.

~~~

"How about you two just quit whining and just go for it already, if we keep standing still we'll be dead in no time!" Octane responded as he bounces up and down.

A deep, disappointed, sigh escaped Seer's mouth as he pulled out his gun.

"I stay here. Mirage, create distraction but watch out for Revenant. Octane, do what you want." Seer didn't seem to try to give Octane instructions, he just let him wreck havoc so he could focus on his enemy's in front of him.

As they both took off and followed orders, Seer released his tactical called: focus of attention. The micro stones formed a tunnel straight into the building in front of him, revealing two of the three enemies they're about to fight.

Wait, two?

His slight distraction caused his downfall as he didn't notice that Loba used her jump drive. Her bracelet flew straight above his head and ended up behind him.

"I'm sorry, my love. But I really need to win this match. That tin Demon out there promised me that I could kick off his head if we win." Loba said and the moment Seer tried to turn around she already shot him a few times in the chest.

But Loba's action didn't go unnoticed because as soon as she downed Seer, she received a few bullets as well from Mirage, standing on top of the roof from the other building Seer focused his attention on.

"You're welcome." Mirage yelled.

"I downed Wraith, she was too slow for me to escape." Octane cackled as he returned from god knows where.

Revenant was the only one left.

Seer made his way down towards the ground, hoping Mirage would pick him up but at that very moment, Revenant's Tactical landed exactly where Seer ended up, underneath the stacked buildings.

Also Mirage apparently got hit as they heard the cracking sound.

"You gotta help him, Octane. I'll cause a distraction.". irage announced. He didn't get hit by the tactical bomb yet so his abilities still worked. Making sure Revenant would focus on him and his 7 other decoys.

Octane didn't hesitate and quickly grabbed one of his revive needles and stabbed directly into Seer's chest.

Wait a second.

Why did that needle say Simulacrum? Did he accidentally swapped the needles this morning? Was that the reason why Lifeline said he looked Healthier than before? So many questions, such a little time.

"I could use a little help here!" Mirage cried out, who's struggling not to get hit by Revenant's Longbow. Who's hiding in one of the houses behind them.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm com....."

Boom

A clean shot between the eyes ending Revenant's life in an instant.

"What in the name of..."

Did another squad that joined the fight? No, nobody was there except the three of them.

"What's wrong?" Seer said, holding a 301 assault rifle in his right hand, without a scope nonetheless while his left hand still got a hold of one of Octane's hands, pulling the downed man back on his feet.

"Did you just shoot him?" Mirage said.

"Why, yes. You needed some help right? So I provided that help."

Octane tried to pry Seer's hand open, but the taller man was holding it fiercely for somehow no reason.

"Amigo, please, let go of my hand. I don't think Che would be happy if I lost my hand as well. " He said, not paying attention to the kill at all.

Seer spaced out for a few seconds, staring directly at Mirage. Poor Eliot started to back up in response as he felt really uncomfortable right now.

Until he suddenly snapped back to reality and pulled away from Octane's hand. Then he decided to turn around and just started to run?

"The next ring is not far." Seer started. "Come, let's go."

Octane caressed his hand like it's been stuck in a bear trap and raised an eyebrow, underneath his goggles of course, as he watched his teammate run forward. Did the stim give him super sight? Or did it give him super focus? Whatever it was, Octane became jealous.

"What did you do?" Mirage suddenly asked , like he could see Octane's expression under his mask. "There's no way a normal human being could hit someone at that distance."

"I guess it's just luck, Amigo. Something you could use as well." Octavio clearly avoided the question. "Like he said, The ring's coming, try to keep up as well, 'kay?" He said and the another jump pad to catch up with Seer

"Wait, what?" Mirage said confused as he turned around and noticed the red wall of death coming up to him very quickly.

"Don't go without me!"

They finally managed to catch up with Seer, who stopped moving for a second, close at the Hammond labs. He rubbed his temple as he looked at Octane.

"You used the wrong syringe, did you now?" He suddenly said.

"Are you alright, Amigo?"

Seer didn't hesitate for a second and pointed his R301 directly at Mirage, who ducked away in an instant, just to shoot a legend who sneaked up behind him.

"I'm fine, totally. Nothing wrong with me at all." he quickly added and refused to continue at what he just asked. He didn't have the concentration at all to be mad at Octane right now.

"Dude! Watch out where you point that thing!" Mirage said, almost screaming as he panicked. "don't ever do that..."

Seer pushed his index fingers to his lips as an indication for Mirage to shut up.

"The two remaining legends are still on the other side of the wall. I'm going in." The taller Brown man didn't even wait for one then to make the first move, he just took off.... Again.

"phew." Octane let out a relieved sigh. Ignoring Mirage, who clearly looked at him like he saw water burning. "Let's go, we can't let him die alone."

By the time they catch up again, Seer was kneeling down by one the deathboxes, looting some ammo. Two innocent legends, slaughtered brutally by the new guy on drugs. Sounds like headline for the Outlands newspaper

"How even.... We weren't even gone for at least 5 minutes." Mirage said. "Octane, what did you do?"

"It was an accident, Amigo. Are you happy now? Lifeline and I had a drink together yesterday, probably one too much. I accidentally swapped the syringes this morning cause I couldn't think right." He finally confessed because he couldn't handle Mirage's annoying attitude anymore.

"Are there any side effects?"

"depends, want to hear the bad or the worst once?"

"The good once please"

"Side effects aren't really good at all, Compadre. It'll wear off after a while. Probably gonna take a few days but the most common side effect is not being able to sleep or concentrate, cause you know,.. It makes you feel energetic." Octane looked at Seer who's been looking at them both for a while now, moving his fingers rapidly up and down.

-The poor guy won't be able to sleep for the upcoming days.- Octane wanted to say, but he didn't because he knew Mirage probably wouldn't be able to stop talking if he had an antidote for the poison Octane pumped in the always so calm and concentrated Seer.

"Are you both good? There are 10 squad left. Let's go." Seer couldn't even think right at this very moment as the

stim probably reached its peak at this point.

"c'mon, we need to go. Before it wears off, better take the advance now we still can." Octane said.

"Does that mean I can get a kill too?"

"If you're fast enough, Amigo!" Octane said and took the lead this time. Mirage sighed, if only he was as fast as them. His legs were making him tired, trying to keep up with those two junkies.

-This feels wrong.- That's all Mirage could think of right now.

The ring chased them all the way back to the rift. The third round had been announced and the timer went down rapidly, close to round 4. On their way to the ring they took another squad down, but none of them seemed to be the kill leader. Somehow....

Seer got the most kills, logical right? He took down thirteen people. Octane got second place with 8 and mirage.... Yeah, he didn't even bother trying to keep up with those two anymore. He didn't even take the Stim, but he was already worn out mainly because of the constant sprinting. He even burned his butt on the ring because Seer and Octane pushed a squad on the edge of the closing ring.

"Only 2 enemy squads left.... Victory is nearly ours." Seer said as Octane used his Jump Pad to take both Mirage and Seer to the upper parts of the Rift. Being this high gave them the advantage to examine their upcoming enemies.

Besides Mirage acquired a fully upgraded Longbow, so he could see their enemies from at least 300 meters away. But the main reason he was using the Longbow, is because he could still keep an eye on both of his Teammates without moving a lot.

The drugs enhanced Seer's abilities greatly. His ears picked up the sounds of heartbeats even faster and his micro drones reached a distance even further than before. It almost felt like cheating. (Well it definitely was though, none of the legends were allowed to take any drugs, except for Octane, because you know, it's Octane.)

"6 enemies, North, not too far away, currently fighting each other." Mirage said as he loaded the Longbow, ready to Shoot one of them, while standing on top of the building.

Seer peaked through the scope of his R-301, Following the movement of what it seemed to be, Fuse. Who launched his knuckle cluster at one of the other legends he's been fighting.

"Let's go! It's not like they're going to commit suicide!" Octane exclaimed, injecting himself with the 40st syringe of Stim today. He threw his jump pad down in front of himself and used it to launch himself into battle.

4 legends closer to victory. Mirage wanted this to be over, this entire match pushed him to his limits. He doesn't care that he only had 2 kills, well of course he did, but he pushed that away for now.

Seer released his micro drones mid air, after he also used Octane's jump pad of course, to reveal the remaining enemies. Just before he landed, Octane already downed the last one of the other squad Fuse and his team were fighting.

"Knuckle cluster f'ring."

It struck Octane from behind and it stuck long enough to break Octane's shield.

"Shit." Octane growled. Seer heard his teammate being in trouble and quickly focused his attention on Fuse, who seemed to be amused and proud by his actions.

While Octane was trying to recharge his shield behind a MRVN, currently at top on one of the buildings from the Rift, Mirage noticed one of Fuse's teammates, down at the ground, tried to flank Octane.

Bloodhound, Mirage noticed, they only have to scan their area and they would be faster at Octane than mirage ever would be. So the man sighed and decided to take a gamble. First he shot Bloodhound, clearly cracking their shield, and after that he jumped in as well.

Bloodhound quickly turned around, trying to find the one responsible for their cracked shield. But before they took action, Mirage landed behind them. Not exactly behind but 50 meter away.

He tried to regain his balance, but....

"Alfather, give me sight! " Bloodhound suddenly said and turned around to notice Mirage's clumsy landing. Their eyes glowing red and quickly started shooting at the poor soul.

Mirage whimpered, trying to remain his cool, but he couldn't, every bullet he fired ended up in the gutter. But Bloodhound's bullets hit him one for one, almost knocking him. Luckily Octane finally finished up charging his shield and attacked Bloodhound upstairs. Delivering the final blow.

"Be careful where you walk, Amigo!" Octane yelled and threw a Phoenix kit towards the older man.

Seer seemed to have a hard time against Fuse. His quick reflexes suddenly turned slow and he barely found the energy to keep himself on his feet. Fuse took advantage of that, he swiftly moved out of the cover and readied an Arc star on his robot arm. Ready to shoot, but Seer just got enough power to release, his fast loading tactical and the micro drives escaped out of his chest device once again, canceling fuse abilities for a few seconds. Confusing the older men for a second as his arm wouldn't work

Seer's bullet struck Fuse right at his chest , to end the longest battle he had today. Then he collapsed.

"Is he dead?" Mirage boldly asked.

"Of course not, are you crazy, Compadre. " Octane muttered. "He probably fell asleep or something...."

"We have our Champion's!"

It seemed that Fuse and Bloodhound lost a teammate before the last ring closed, so they were unable to revive him or her.

"This was the weirdest match ever. I'm glad it's over..." Mirage sounded worried, and he has enough reasons to be worried. This was Obi's second match in the Apex game and recovering would surely be a drag.

"Come on Compadre, we won! Be happy!" Octane howled and quickly started to jump around.

--------

"So, Silva caused all of this, Huh. It was mu'h fault, i should've keep an better eye on him." Che rubbed her temple as she plays with a pen in her other hand.

After the games ended, Lifeline got called in to pick up Obi's lifeless body and brought him to the hospice on the drop ship.

"It isn't your fault, Aya. I was with him at the match, I should have stopped him earlier. Obi's going to be alright, right?* Mirage replied, standing next to Lifeline, who's scribbling some notes on her note pad about Seer's condition.

"He's going to f'ne. The only problem is that it would take weeks for him to r'cover. I mean, he can easily compete to the games again in just a f'w days. Stim is one h'll of a drug, if you ain't used to it, the side effects of it are terrible. He would still feel energetic but his stamina won't be able to deal with it, think of headaches, being tired all of the time, that surt stuff. He won't be happy when he wakes up."

"I see..." Elliot mumbled.

"Silva is at the Paradise lounge. Yuh should go there as well. Celebrating yuh win and all." Lifeline added. "I can't come, I need to keep an eye on the artist, yuh know."

Mirage wanted to ask if Che was coming too but she already answered his thoughts.

"Are you sure?" He asked to make sure he understood it right.

"Definitely! Now go, Witt. Obi will be alright as long he's in muh hands."

And so Mirage did. Without a doubt lifeline's care was the best of the outlands and Seer will recover as fast as possible. Ready to Lecture Octane about his wrongdoings. (or to kick his ass, just to show how disappointed he was.)

[marbled-roses-au]

Marbled Roses

~°Entry #: 002°~

Author's Note: This chapter has a small warning for paranoia and stalking, some bad mental health talk, and Tim thinks he's hallucinating, too, but he jokes about it more than anything. Also demon mention, I know that can be a trigger. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!~ 🌹

Alex smiled, holding his camera in his hand. "So, today, we are just going and scoping out some good filming spots. I asked the faculty yesterday and they said as long as I add the school into the credits, they are fine with it being a filming spot." He explained, smiling at his friends.

"Okay..." Tim said with a nod, "and why are you dragging us along?" He asked in an unamused tone.

Alex huffed a bit, "You and Brian are going to be some of the main characters and Jay is going to help me edit this. We all should be involved in the whole process." He explained. Tim was always grumpy, Alex never understood why. Of course, he never knew much about him...Tim tended to keep to himself. Well...himself and Brian, of course. None of them knew if they were secretly dating, but they all knew for sure that they were pining hard for one another. That much was very obvious.

"Fair enough." Tim said with a soft sigh. He didn't mind it too much, though, he would much rather been sleeping in on his weekend. His friends always had energy and he never knew where it came from. He didn't understand how they could possibly have a job, go to classes at ungodly hours in the morning (and not be late), have an active social life, and still have the energy to do fun stuff.

Jay just smiled a bit and looked around, "So, is there anywhere specific you are looking at for the end scenes?" He asked.

Alex smiled and nodded, "The school has some really nice cherry blossoms. I'm going to film the 'big kiss' there." He explained with a happy hum.

"Why there?" Brian asked, tilting his head a bit. Sometimes, Alex chose things and didn't have an explanation or a reason for his choice. Him, Tim, and Jay had all collectively agreed that Alex probably has ADD or ADHD, though they weren't psychiatrists and couldn't diagnose him based off of a few simple similar symptoms.

"Well, in Japanese culture, if you confess your love under a cherry blossom on the last day they are in bloom, the love will never die. It's a really sweet tradition. I found out about it in this really great anime I watched a few months ago." Alex rambled with a big smile. Sure, he was excited for the film and wanted to add some culture into his romance movie, but hopefully this tradition worked on Tim and Brian. He wanted to see them happily together.

"Weeb." Teased Tim, snickering softly when Alex gasped in mock offence and Jay and Brian chuckled under their breath.

"I'm getting all of this bullying on camera, you know." Alex said with a huff, puffing out his cheeks a bit. He was always the one getting picked on by his friends. "Oh yeah, speaking of camera, I'm going to be recording the 'auditions'. Even though you two have the roles, I want to get it on camera for any 'Behind the Scenes' stuff I do. I'm also going to buy small cameras for you guys to record personal rehearsals with." Alex said, smiling a bit, "That way, you guys can send us the videos and then Jay and I can watch them and send some feedback."

Brian sighed, smiling a bit, "Are the cameras for us necessary?" He asked, "I mean, we could just, like, video chat instead."

"The cameras are a necessity." Alex said, "Most of the time, I'll be running around, going to classes or just busy doing other stuff, video chats are too...inconvient." He explained, waving his hand to emphasize his point. Besides, something deep down told him they all needed their own cameras...he didn't know what that voice was or why it was there.

Though...ever since Alex had picked up that rose on his script, something had been whispering things to him when no one else was around; Things like...flattery...advice...encouragement...predictions.

Alex didn't really care what it was that was telling him these things at this point. All he cared about was that whatever or, rather, whoever this voice was, they were out to help him and his friends, not hurt them...and, somehow, this voice made him feel...secure.

"You know, its weird, its been a few days, and this rose hasn't wilted or anything." Alex said, "The blue has just...sort of faded and its getting more red."

Tim looked at Alex and huffed, "If you ask me, that damn rose is cursed..." He said, "If I were you, I would throw it in the garbage." Something about that rose made Tim uneasy and all he wanted was to get it as far away from him and his friends as possible.

"How much longer are we gonna be running around filming locations?" Jay yawned, "It's our weekend, we should be sleeping in or relaxing or...you know, something." He said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Usually, he was fine getting up early in the morning...today, however, he was exhausted and just wanting to hide under his covers.

"You guys are such buzzkills, you know that?" Alex asked, looking at all of them, "All I want to do is be out, filming locations with the people that are, you know, helping me with this movie." He complained, "But, if you guys really want to leave, then leave." He started walking ahead of them, frustrated with their constant complaining. He just wanted to have some fun, they were all being moody and boring.

"Alex..." Brian sighed, "c'mon, we aren't trying to be mean." He said, smiling softly. "Tim and I were doing classwork until the sun was coming up and then we couldn't even sleep after that because we were wound up..."

Jay hummed, "And my body and my brain wouldn't let me sleep last night. I think it was...6A.M...? Before I even passed out." He said, smiling sympathetically. He wished he could give more energy into this for Alex, he hated seeing his friend upset.

Alex turned to them, sighing a bit, "I know you guys aren't trying to be buzzkills." He said with a sigh, "I'm just so excited to film this and I want to share all of my ideas with you guys and incorporate some of your ideas, if you have any. I know I get a little...much...when I get excited." Though he hated to admit it, his friends were right in saying that he, in the nicest words possible, hyperfixated. He did that with most of his projects, losing motivation half way through and quitting. This time, however, he had made a promise; not just to himself, but to his friends, too. He wouldn't give up on this project, no matter what happened.

Tim looked around, frowning when he saw something...weird. "Hey...you guys see that, too, right?" He asked, nodding to...what could only be described as a very, very, tall man in a trench coat with a fedora covering his face. Something about the guy made Tim want to run and hide; giving him the same unsettled feeling as the rose did, only stronger.

Alex turned, facing the camera in the direction and tilting his head a bit. "Huh..." He hummed, "that...has to be a prop or something. People aren't that tall, right?" He asked, looking over at Tim, Jay, and Brian. He was the only one of them that didn't feel...worried or panicked.

Brian felt a bit unsettled deep inside, "Not normally." He said, frowning a little, "Has...Has he been watching us?"

Jay chewed at his lip, "Or...following us? He kinda looks like a sex offender..." He said softly.

The 'person' turned to them, a devilish, perverted, sharp-toothed smirk stretching across his white face. He held up a deep red rose before he tipped his hat to them, slipping behind a tree and seemingly disappearing after that; a gentle breeze of red and blue rose petals following behind him and falling gently onto the grass.

Alex walked over, ahead of the others, seeing if he could record any proof of that guys existence. However, when he looked behind the tree, there was nothing. Not a single trace that anyone was ever there, other than the trail of petals.

He couldn't wait to get back to the dorms and take the recording to his computer to see if he could get a better look at that...creature? Monster? Demon?

The group shared a look, eyes wide and a shared, uneasy feeling between the four of them. Without any words spoken, they all agreed that whatever that thing was, it wasn't human and it didn't look all too friendly, either.

[willwritesablog]

Book Review: Red Dead Redemption by Matt Margini

Published by Boss Fight Books, 2020

Ebook Cost: $4.95, Paperback Cost: $14.95, Paperback + Ebook Bundle: $17.95

8/19/20

This necessarily won't be a comprehensive review of Matt Margini's latest book, Red Dead Redemption, but rather an overview of my experience in reading it and descriptions of some parts that especially stood out to me (and why.)

At the beginning of the book, Margini makes a humble disclaimer that apart from two brief trips, he himself has not been to the west. He corrects the notion that this would immediately disqualify him from writing this book afterword by opening into his central idea; the book is about Easterners' perceptions on the West, and is specifically about a videogame that brings these differences into the limelight, Red Dead Redemption by Rockstar Games.

I give all this exposition because I have never played Red Dead Redemption (or its sequel), I have never been west of Chicago, I've only read 4 western books and I've watched maybe one or two western movies. Beyond watching some beginning and ending cutscenes on YouTube, I went into this book fresh on the series. Besides playing through GTAV, I am still fresh to releases by Rockstar Games.

These factors should immediately disqualify me from writing a review, so I'll amend the notion by stating that my review is largely on the merits of Red Dead Redemption (the book) as a standalone piece.

As a standalone piece Red Dead Redemption functions flawlessly; it's written remarkably well. I was curious and a little skeptical going into this book on how Margini would approach this game, given Rockstar Games' notoriety in being tight-lipped on their development process. This already puts him at a disadvantage, but Margini makes up for it--profoundly--by picking apart every detail in the game and citing it to similar works in film, literature, and in other games that most definitely served as inspiration. Any developer interviews or relevant community reactions towards the game are cited and implemented into the book as well.

Red Dead Redemption by Matt Margini serves as a fascinating index over the western genre, and this is just one of the many things it accomplishes. It bears a strong amount of re-readability (as a small example, the first chapter begins with something the author was told 4 years ago. On the acknowledgements page, the first sentence states how he began scheming this book out four years ago) and contains a lengthy section of citations for extended reading (which also seems to be a feature in all publishings by Boss Fight Books.)

Matt Margini accomplishes multiple smaller things across writing this book--at its core he analyzes the western genre (and the death of the western genre), the mechanics of Red Dead Redemption, and the spirit of Red Dead Redemption (which is roughly a combination of the two.) But a number of related subjects and asides are discussed as well; personal connections to the game and Matt Margini's father are frequent, historical connections being made are not uncommon, and comparisons to other video games and their storytelling are prevalent. One of my favorite sections of the book was when Margini referenced and explained the idea of a "map game," the repeated pattern of modern video games to be open-world, expansive, and then inevitably claustrophobic as the player gathers his or her bearings. "Virtual tourism" is another term he uses here.

The most difficult portion of this book to read, I found, was the longest chapter, "Cowboy." Large sections of this chapter I found myself disagreeing with. In this chapter Margini identifies Owen Wister and his novel The Virginian as what "gave the cowboy his shape as a quintessentially American icon" and proceeds to illustrate him and his novel in a less-than-flattering light. This is discussed to serve as a reference point, as many western works released after The Virginian, Margini argues, carry similar ideological flaws.

Margini follows on this by comparing Wister's ideals to his friend Teddy Roosevelt's ideology and the value he saw in individuals adopting this western ideal. Margini states that Roosevelt's modification of the frontier thesis definitively transitioned its hero from the "humble yeoman farmer" into the chaotic "Daniel Boone, a Davy Crockett... a 'man who knows Indians' but takes their land by force," a character, to paraphrase, who lives outside of society, whose actions serve society, but who does not value society or its rewards itself.

Margini states that Roosevelt's ideals held "deeply racist implications" because his ideal man subjugated or was complicit in subjugating Indians, and also because it roots back to Nietzsche's Übermensch. If his beliefs were this way, I didn't find the book's connection towards this to be very effective. Margini uses very racial language when describing Roosevelt's beliefs, but from what is shown, it doesn't seem like this virtue in subjugation was drawn across racial lines.

Later, in "Cowboy," in closing off the same interlude and in making present-day connections, he alludes to the structure of the game of Red Dead as implicitly strengthening racial prejudices, in that your character, a white man, is able to function at a higher capacity than the other, robotic characters in the game. He concludes this in saying, "Everyone else [in the game] is just--to borrow a term weaponized by contemporary white supremacists--NPCs." Although this is meant as a brief point, Matt Margini either fundamentally misunderstands, or is being disingenuous to, the "NPC" pop culture phenomenon. The idea of the "NPC" and using it as a derogative began by a broader right-wing dissident movement--it was significant for symbolizing an opposition to consumerism, hedonism and nihilism as opposed to anything racial. It's a pretty egregious mischaracterization and show-of-the-hand on where Margini aligns his personal views--he uses a very serious subject (white supremacy) as a boogeyman in referencing a topic his audience is likely ignorant on.

In spite of that and even in other places in the book I feel prone to disagree with, Matt Margini makes his cases very well. Red Dead Redemption would make for an excellent book to read within a book club or even within a filmmaking class due to its wide scope, its excellent analyses and its thought-provoking subject material. The language used within it is stunning as well--such as in the following quote about the ideal of the cowboy, "The way he's 'seen trouble' that the East Coast man hasn't seen, crystallizing a purer kind of virtue that lies beneath a life of vice," the imagery Margini evokes here of an unmoving, bedrock virtue being forged under the pressures of vice is near-perfect. In reading Red Dead Redemption I ended up writing down close to a dozen new words that I had not heard before to look up. And Matt Margini accomplishes all of this in under 200 pages.

As I began with this review, this is in large part a discussion of my personal experience with this book. In keeping with that spirit, I'm rating this book a 4/5 here, however, I went ahead and left smaller reviews on Goodreads and on LibraryThing with full 5 star ratings just to help data analytics. It's gripping, it's seamless, and it's a better book than I could write. It's a book that deserves to be read.

Easy to Binge-Read?: I read it in three sittings (reading through the first four chapters, then reading chapters “Cowboy” and “Violence,” and then finally reading the remaining three chapters), although some might finish it in an afternoon.

Review: 4̶/̶5̶

EDIT, 10/17/20: Too little too late, but attempting to diagnose this book on a 5 point scale was petty and stupid of me. My disagreements with the book cover about half of my review, but only around 2% of its pages. From its discussion of map games to its identification of "every signifcant tourist attraction in Florida [being] the remnant of some early-20th-century megalomaniac’s quasi-utopian passion project," I've cited this book a number of times on other things ever since finishing it.

Rating: 9/10