microsoft I would like to control my own computer. microsoft. microsoft could you please obey the commands that I am inputting into your stupid expensive hunk of metal
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Critical analysis of the ways in which Red Dead Redemption 2 uses literary and historical sources, over at readdead.com. Octavia, she/her.
why is this halftime show a group project but none of the group members spoke to each other beforehand
This essay (/video) is taking 900 years to finish because so much in RDR2's lore is so interconnected with other things that it's like a spiderweb, but I must explain it in a linear manner
website about to use 47 trackers: sorry just a quick security check to make sure you're not a bot
sometimes you read a bit and can't help but laugh and nod in agreement. yep, yep, yeeeeeeeeeeeep
Chris Person@papapishu.bsky.social · 3mo agoFor @aftermath.site, I reviewed the Steam Machine. It costs $1049 base. It is beautifully designed. It might be one of the most important computers ever made, launched at the worst time imaginable. aftermath.site/steam-machin...
Update on the last few pieces for Read Dead: just experienced, for the first time, an actual unwillingness to mention two people in the same sentence
Having a website sucks because all the advice to get more eyes on said website is Everything That's Wrong With the Internet
Added to this piece: explaining the weird, uncanny lighting halfway through "Red Dead Redemption." Also, a gif of Dutch looking like a confused dog. readdead.com/2024/10/09/n...
Negative Images: Arthur Morgan and Micah Bell III
Why Red Dead Redemption 2 inverts the Western genre trope of good guys wearing white hats and bad guys wearing black ones.
readdead.com
This piece has been largely rewritten. It also now identifies the sources for some of the art in RDR2, which (surprise!!) Rockstar misappropriates. readdead.com/2024/08/21/v...
Virgin Lands: RDR2's Dream of Colonizing Eden
Close examination of RDR2 shows that Rockstar Games is a willing participant in colonialist traditions like cultural appropriation.
readdead.com
Once again I am missing the heyday of Toast Twitter, when one could simply say "I have a question about sexual mores in the U. S. South in the 1880s" and 5 people would tag eldritchlibraryhag and she'd send you 3 crisp paragraphs that solved all your problems
A 50% rent hike hit @pilsencommbooks.bsky.social. Instead of closing, the co-op relocated and expanded its role as a radical bookstore, community hub, classroom and organizing space. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social reports. inthesetimes.com/article/radi...
This piece has been largely rewritten. It also now identifies the sources for some of the art in RDR2, which (surprise!!) Rockstar misappropriates. readdead.com/2024/08/21/v...
Virgin Lands: RDR2's Dream of Colonizing Eden
Close examination of RDR2 shows that Rockstar Games is a willing participant in colonialist traditions like cultural appropriation.
readdead.com
This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.
Added to this piece: close reading reveals more evidence of Rockstar's racism. Also, Charles Manson, maybe? readdead.com/2024/08/14/t...
To Turn Towards Death: The Secret Mythology in RDR2
RDR2 alludes to a famous episode from Greek mythology to give deeper meaning to the endings of both Redemption games.
readdead.com
Added here: closer consideration of how RDR2 positions Micah Bell as a Satanic figure, and that weird, weird lighting in "Red Dead Redemption." readdead.com/2024/07/17/d...
"Desperate Revenge": Paradise Lost and Micah Bell
How Rockstar drew on diabolical characters from John Milton's Paradise Lost to create Micah Bell III, and who he's named after.
readdead.com
What i've highlighted isn't just a cute line: The narrative set-ups, basic tasks, and easy conclusions of video games — "go here, do this, find that, feel this," etc — mirror children's picture books to a pretty crazy degree. I should know, I read a lot to my 3-year-old! good piece, grayson
Grayson Morley@graysonmorley.com · 7mo agoRattled off a blog on breathlessness in games criticism, Pokopia, and getting real about what games actually offer us versus what we want them to.
You know how humans have a strong preference to look at other human faces, starting at like 2 months old? When I try to compare these two images, even though the right is "more realistic," my eyes slide off it and land on the left every time.
Rami Ismail (رامي)@ramiismail.com · 7mo agoI was asked to talk about DLSS5, but then I got angry about DLSS5, and so that's what in this @kotaku.com article. kotaku.com/we-spoke-to-...
Added to this piece: a visual comparison of Dutch Van der Linde and George Gordon, Lord Byron. readdead.com/2024/07/09/d...
Death and the Devil: Dutch Van der Linde and Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost and the iconic historical writer who helped to inspire RDR2's Dutch Van der Linde.
readdead.com
From Chicago and the Twin Cities to Vermont, police departments play an essential role in the ICE abductions, violently suppressing resistance that would otherwise keep people safe from the clutches of the kidnappers. ICE is the enemy of humanity. So are police. crimethinc.com/police
Raider@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 7mo agoVermont Police Violated Use of Force Law in South Burlington
Highlighting some site updates! To begin: discovering the historical fight that inspired RDR2's "Americans at Rest." Also, over 100 years later, I definitively exonerate Sontag & Evans of one of the murders they were accused of. NBD! readdead.com/2025/06/18/p...
Philosopher, Outlaw, Poet, Robber: The History that Wrote RDR2
History in RDR2: the little-known outlaws who inspired the characters Dutch Van der Linde, Hosea Matthews, Arthur Morgan, and Micah Bell.
readdead.com
I finally lost my shit about so-called AIs, LLMs, enshittification & everything fucking evil that @officialgrammarly.bsky.social is doing. I'm fucking furious, and not just about what 1 company has done. An open letter to Grammarly & the rest of the LLM hype machine www.moryan.com/an-open-lett...
An open letter to Grammarly and other plagiarists, thieves and slop merchants
To everyone at Grammarly, I am writing a book right now, a really challenging endeavor that no doubt someone in Silicon Valley will think it’s fine to steal the day it’s published. I’ve been a profes...
moryan.com
NEW on Read Dead: … everything! The site has been completely redesigned. The essays have been edited for clarity and updated with new evidence. Many new photos, inc. classical art bc fuck generative AI. Also, DARK MODE now available! readdead.com
Read Dead
Exploring the literature & history that influenced Red Dead Redemption II.
readdead.com
Once again, I am promising Democrats there are literally thousands of former department of justice people who will crawl over broken glass to prosecute this administration given the chance
CNN@cnn.com · 7mo agoA large banner of Donald Trump was hung outside of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, DC, emphasizing the White House’s control over the nation’s top law enforcement branch that once pursued criminal prosecutions against the president. https://cnn.it/4cBCqW7
Pals! A friend of mine is in serious need in LA. Phil is one of the kindest people I know, and he's always taking care of other people. If you can give to his fundraiser, or share it, please do!!! www.gofundme.com/f/psmpowerup...
Donate to Aid For PHILSpecialMeter To Stay Housed, Healthy, & Helpful, organized by PHIL Special Meter
"LIFE, GAMING, AND FANDOM ON HRD MODE...." Thanks for s… PHIL Special Meter needs your support for Aid For PHILSpecialMeter To Stay Housed, Healthy, & Helpful
gofundme.com
Thesis: ICE is un-American and the Minneapolis protestors are real Americans. Antithesis: Ackshually ICE is operating in a long American tradition of racist terror. Synthesis: Minneapolis is now the epicenter of a clash between two distinct but historically grounded American political traditions.