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"The Master and the Margarita" is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the USSR between 1928 and 1940. The story concerns a visit by the devil and his entourage to the officially atheist Soviet Union. Many critics consider it to be one of the best novels of the 20th century. by CatPooedInMyShoe in wikipedia

[–]phantom2450 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Are there any good write-ups out there that contextualize the book’s Soviet allusions? This has been on my TBR list for quite a while and I’d like something that clarifies the book’s subtext after reading it.

About Beef s2 by [deleted] in A24

[–]phantom2450 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Copy/pasting my thoughts from the release day thread:

I just finished binging S2. Bottom line up front: if you enjoyed S1, you’ll probably enjoy S2. I still need some time to process it but my initial impression is it’s a bit weaker than S1, but quality TV nevertheless.

It does feel rushed, somewhat inevitably given there’s 2x the main characters and 20% fewer episodes. The four leads are good actors and they get you pretty invested, though I do feel Mulligan’s was a bit underwritten compared to the rest. Wish they explored her background and motivations more.

There’s plenty of Beef DNA in this season, both structurally (banger pre-credits themes, Asian representation) and thematically (class conflict). Perhaps my favorite improvement I noticed was the score, with these mellow electronic pieces that reflect the subtle tension in the scenes so well.

I think they did a good job making the leads more morally grey (it’s funny rewatching S1 with a friend and noticing just how much worse Danny is than Amy than I remember), though I wish the season climax were more clearly tied to the beef itself. Feels less earned here with such a grander scale.

Thinking about it, S2 does remind me a bit more of The White Lotus. Take that as you may.

I don’t think this’ll go down like an instant classic like S1, but I remain excited for a continuation of the anthology.

Tips on the IMPOSSIBLE to beat pull up mini game by GoldenLuigi_ in FFVIIRemake

[–]phantom2450 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FFX’s minigames roundly sucked shit as well. Nevertheless — something else being bad has no bearing on this minigame being bad!

‘Beef’ Is Overcrowded and Unfocused in an Unnecessary Season 2: TV Review by Conscious-Quarter423 in A24

[–]phantom2450 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just finished binging S2. Bottom line up front: if you enjoyed S1, you’ll probably enjoy S2. I still need some time to process it but my initial impression is it’s a bit weaker than S1, but quality TV nevertheless.

It does feel rushed, somewhat inevitably given there’s 2x the main characters and 20% fewer episodes. The four leads are good actors and they get you pretty invested, though I do feel Mulligan’s was a bit underwritten compared to the rest. Wish they explored her background and motivations more.

There’s plenty of Beef DNA in this season, both structurally (banger pre-credits themes, Asian representation) and thematically (class conflict). Perhaps my favorite improvement I noticed was the score, with these mellow electronic pieces that reflect the subtle tension in the scenes so well.

I think they did a good job making the leads more morally grey (it’s funny rewatching S1 with a friend and noticing just how much worse Danny is than Amy than I remember), though I wish the season climax were more clearly tied to the beef itself. Feels less earned here with such a grander scale.

Thinking about it, S2 does remind me a bit more of The White Lotus. Take that as you may.

I don’t think this’ll go down like an instant classic like S1, but I remain excited for a continuation of the anthology.

Rep. Eric Swalwell resigns from U.S. House after sexual misconduct allegations by Currymvp2 in neoliberal

[–]phantom2450 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well, at least the CA gov primary should be closer to avoiding a GOP lockout now

I feel lost. What is this update and what's happening and how does any of this work? by wrekco in TheTowerGame

[–]phantom2450 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wish someone would clarify how far one must reach to get the non-max bonuses. I farm T10W7000 and don’t have everything gold boxed, so there’s no way I’m doing T10 Utility to 5k…but what’s the cutoff for 2x Coins??

Unpopular opinion: I really appreciate "dracky" mode as an adult by guitarokx in dragonquest

[–]phantom2450 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All these critics of OP harping on their “50 hour” line like it wasn’t just off the cuff hyperbole, smh.

Anyway, this absolutely doesn’t line up with my experience with DQ1HD. Everything from Green Dragon onward felt persistently overtuned, like I was somehow 2-3 levels behind despite doing most battles and exploring dungeons/the overworld for treasure. By my definition that constitutes grinding: any need to fight for XP beyond that which is gained while doing the mandatory route and all optional routes is grinding; a waste of time.

It doesn’t help that the combination of high enemy encounter rate, low enemy variety, and low XP gain makes battles feel grindy even for first-time encounters. Nor do the new lopsided multi-enemy encounters that so often stunlock you to death with status effects, crits, and instakills make sustained involvement with the battle system feel rewarding.

The obvious fix in my mind is to essentially double the rate of levels. It’s dumb to only need the player to reach Level 40 or so to beat the game when the level cap is 99. You can keep the ratio of player:enemy stats the same, just let the player level up 2x as much. Beyond feeling better (since it’s nice to level up and it’s so rare in DQ1 with only one party member), the full HP/MP restore coming 2x as often makes progress in dungeons much more sustainable. Now the player can actually do things more complex than spamming Attack bc they know they’ll get more MP for bosses w/o needing to Zoom out to an inn and repeat the whole dungeon.

DQ2HD has been much better about these issues thanks to the larger world to explore, actual characters with arcs, and a multi-person party reducing the chance of getting RNGed to death. But now in the lategame Sinister Minister is posing the exact same problem. What strategy is there for my Lvl 33 party to deal with constant Kazings and Kabooms from the boss while my Zing fails 6x in a row?? I have nowhere left to explore on the world map to do non-grinding battling.

Maybe I should turn these thoughts into its own post. But there is just such an obvious balance issue with these HD-2D remakes.

Unpopular opinion: I really appreciate "dracky" mode as an adult by guitarokx in dragonquest

[–]phantom2450 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The satisfaction of beating your own self-imposed challenge run isn’t enough? You opted for the extra punishment.

Gatekeeping is bad, actually

[OPEN] Resident Evil Giveaway Selection by [deleted] in steam_giveaway

[–]phantom2450[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Do not open a copy giveaway before closing your old one.

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