Kill Whitey

After the Sandy Hook massacre I had to remove myself from all media for well over a month. The gun-loving crowd's mania that firearms trump the lives of innocents was just too much for me to handle. Well, zip-a-dee-fucking-doo-da; the old saying is, "when it rains, it pours." Here in America the saying should be, "when it rains, it's actually somebody pissing on you."

Murder, murder, murder, murder, murder. With mass-murder as a garnish. That pretty much sums up the entirety of our country in two sentences. We're more concerned with Gomer being able to have a dozen pistols than we are about Little Suzy being able to have one meal a day.
Our country is so mired in hatred and ideological trench warfare that we're paralyzed from being able to do genuine good for anyone. In the sixteen years since Great Britain passed their laws banning all civilian firearms, gun-related deaths have numbered in only the double-digits annually, sometimes cresting one hundred on a particularly bad year. Conversely, the average death toll from firearms in the good ol' US-of-A is somewhere between ten- and fifteen-thousand.

Our nation is divided right down the middle and never the twain shall meet. On the one side we have the ideological patriarchy: cannibalistic monsters who think they're the only ones deserving of a free meal and who are sociopathic enough to wish death on others just so that they don't have to pay a cent more in taxes. This includes gun enthusiasts, corporate vultures, hyper-aggressive rednecks, and gender-"rights" extremists from both Mars and Venus. In case you hadn't noticed, the vast majority of those folks fall into the Republican party's wheelhouse, except for women's-rights extremists, who wouldn't get along at all with the "barefoot and pregnant" goal that Republicans have for women; still, anyone who's willing to sacrifice other innocent human beings in order to push their own agenda fall into this category, so that includes modern pseudo-feminists. This also includes PETA, because fuck anyone who claims to want to protect animals but whose activism results in a nearly 100% kill rate of animals "rescued" and brought to their shelters.
On the other side we have the ideological pussiarchy: a bunch of mostly well-intentioned people who want equality and safety for all but are too incompetent, naïve or pacifistic to actually affect positive change. This mostly includes Democrats, the majority of college educators, charity workers and activists. Basically anybody who thinks that they can win people over and affect change with a well-reasoned argument without a good heap of fire-and-brimstone or pathos winds up in this category.

A lot of you might be wondering where the hell I'm going with this. The answer is, I'm not really going anywhere. Reason being, if you can't see my point already then I'm never going to convince you. We as a country have no chance to survive this century if we can't find some way to move past this polarization; unfortunately, we pretty much have no common ground any longer. Even the dead bodies of children can't bridge the gap, because apparently the life of a fetus is sacred but once it's been popped out the little fucker can go die in a ditch.

As far as I can see, there are only three potential outcomes that could prevent the US from falling the fuck apart.
The first is that the aggression and hatred grows to be too much. Ignorance and oppression from right-wingers eventually reaches the overflow point and the sensible human beings in this nation stage a mass-disembarkment from a failed experiment. This would likely result in the fearmongers remaining either falling on themselves in an orgy of conspiracy-driven madness or, more likely, attacking every nation on Earth at once in an attempt to force their ideology onto the world. This would leave millions if not billions dead and the US annihilated.

The second, and sadly the least likely, is the exact opposite: somehow the mass paranoia causes the maniacs to snap and stage a nationwide exodus to somewhere else, where their hatred will fester freely. This would likely result in a new aggressive nation infested by rednecks, but who cares about that? The real problem would be that suddenly Liberals would lose their own common ground. Without a threat to unify the differing points of view, strife would continue on. The only silver lining is that, without the rampant paranoia and hatred brought on by the Far-Right, perhaps the more minor difference could be overcome.

The third possibility is of a second Civil War: militant Right-wing madmen raiding their neighbors' homes and slaughtering them for thinking freely, corporate demagogues hiring private-security firms to act as their own armies against the National Guard, and the end result a scorched husk of a former nation. Whoever the victor, the US would limp along as a shadow of its prior greatness, falling into a third-world state similar to Haiti.

I understand that all of this is quite grim and nothing like the snarky nature of my other posts. I agree but, sadly, I see nothing humorous about the current events within this country. I can see only smoke from blazing charnels on the horizon as we hurtle toward an inevitable negative outcome. It would take a miracle to change things for the better, and I've noticed a distinct lack of those in my years on this earth.
Perhaps we as a people can affect change by standing up and making our voices heard. Perhaps we'll only be barking in the dark as the walls close in around us. But we have the obligation to try, if not for our fellow humans than for ourselves, for our survival instinct.
Freedom is not free. This is true but the price of freedom is not, as many would claim, the corpses of our children or the sacrifice of our safety. The price of freedom is that we must all stand together, forego our petty differences and work toward a better community for ourselves and future generations.

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Forget the Amendments and what you think they mean. Those were added on. This right here, the preamble, the very first words of the Constitution, this is what matters. The unification and protection of our nation and our people supersedes any petty grudges or ideological demands. This isn't a contest to be won by forcing half our people to concede; this is a duty that we owe to ourselves, our neighbors and even our hated rivals.

Goodnight, and stay safe.

Reviews: Darksiders II

Anyone who talks favorite video games with me knows that the first Darksiders ranks high up on the list. The storyline was engaging, the main character a delightfully honorable and diplomatic breakaway from similar games' emo pretty-boys or angry no-necked killing machines, and the gameplay the perfect combination of brutal bloodshed, fast-and-furious strategizing, and mind-bending puzzles.

The sequel does not disappoint.

The second game is not a sequel as much as a "simulquel," occurring during the same time period as the first game but following an entirely different storyline. On Earth, the noble War works to end the fighting, free the earth from demonic tyranny, and clear his name by exposing the originators of the apocalypse. In other dimensions, however, the more cunning and acid-tongued Death fights to restore humanity and end the threat of Corruption, a sort of spiritual virus loosed into the realms that has been infesting everything.

First off, the game looks excellent. The characters are wonderfully stylized by masterful artists and give the entire universe its own feel. The architecture is amazing, much of it looking as though it could be from snapshots of ancient ruins, and the environments feel rich and inviting. Much like in the previous Darksiders, there is more to see than to explore, but that's forgivable. In a dungeon-crawling action series like this, a bit of linearity is expected. However, the first two worlds are vast and offer many opportunities for exploration to discover their secrets.

Second, the sound is amazing. From sound effects such as metal on stone to the ultra-realistic sounds of Death's horse Despair galloping through forests, all are top-notch. The music ranges from "fuck yeah!" awesome to heartbreakingly beautiful. To stand above a waterfall and listen to the music intermingle with the rush of the water, or to crest a cliff and stare into the misty abyss with the haunting score in the background, is a breathtaking experience.

Third, the gameplay remains top-notch. When the first Darksiders came out, I happily proclaimed it to be better than the God of War series, and the sequel has maintained that lofty standard of a carnage-based series. One of the things that struck me as brilliant in the first game was the seamless merging of God of War's rampant slaughter with Devil May Cry's flow-based gameplay. War could move like water through legions of enemies, cutting them down with an ease that would make Kratos blush and a fury that would turn Dante green with envy.
Darksiders II has Death, faster than War but also weaker, who fights with more acrobatics. He doesn't have as much reach as his big brother, but he can close distance more easily. If War moved like water, then Death moves like a dancer.

The second game has adopted a more RPG-style bent than its predecessor, adding in item merchants, potions, equipment management, fast travel and a hub area. The shift was risky but pays off for the most part, though it does lead to a couple of downgrades.

First off, it makes the game more about item management than I believe it needed to be, particularly in regards to health potions. You can recover Wrath, the power for your special attacks, by utilizing your scythes instead of secondary weapons, but you either need special weapons to recover health bit by bit or you need to keep a full stock of health potions. It just feels a bit like a crutch added in to boss battles as well as a detriment to make fights with normal enemies a bit more threatening. Artificial difficulty adjustment, is what I'm getting at.

Second, making the game more RPG-based seems to have sacrificed some of the amazingly creative set ideas that the developers implemented in the first game. One could argue that it's simply because the special abilities aren't as blatantly exploited as in the first game, but that exploitation was still fun. I miss the spider queen's boxlike chambers where you could see through the floors and ceilings to peep at other nasty critters you'd eventually have to fight. The portal puzzles in the Destroyer's massive spire are some of my favorite memories, even though they could be hair-pullingly frustrating.

That's the final downgrade: the puzzles aren't as difficult as they were in the first game. Now, I understand the reason for toning down the insanity. Puzzles of the caliber of Portal, especially in an action game, can lead to a full-stop in the gameplay and that's bad. I experienced that myself in the first Darksiders with many of the portal puzzles.

Despite its deviating from the original game and taking many risks, a few of which failed in my opinion, I would never call Darksiders II a disappointment. It held me engaged every step of the way and, as a continuity nut, I was on the edge of my seat to see how the vast conspiracy would further unfold. I was not disappointed. Darksiders fans, don't skip the credit roll at the end of the game. It includes a stinger that furthers the plot and confirms my suspicions from the end of the first installment.

So, with plenty that's good and nothing that's truly bad, Darksiders II comes with my seal of approval!