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lizabethstucker · 3 years

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The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe edited by Josh Pachter

Subtitled: Parodies and Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street

I loved this collection of stories, with only a few exceptions. Overall, I would give it 4.5 out of 5.

Introductions: Trouble in Triplicate

“At Wolfe’s Door” by Otto Penzler ~ about the characters.

“A Family Affair” by Rebecca Stout Bradbury ~ Rex Stout’s daughter provides a peek at the author.

“Plot It Yourself” by Josh Pachter ~ how the collection came to be.

Pastiches (Respectful imitations of the original works)

“The Red Orchid” by Thomas Narcejac

Translated from French, the story was written in 1947. The first English publication wasn’t until 1961. A young woman comes to hire Wolfe to discover who is trying to kill her uncle, a man who claims to have developed a red orchid. More creepy than respectful, especially how Archie hits on the female client. Too offensive for me. DNF

“Chapter 8 from ‘Murder in Pastiche’” by Marion Mainwaining

Published in 1955, this novel can also be found under the title of “Nine Detectives All at Sea”. A notorious gossip columnist is murdered during a sea cruise across the Atlantic. There are nine famous detectives on the ship as passengers. Trajan Beare, aka Nero Wolfe, is the focus of this particular chapter. It is hard to judge the whole book based on just one chapter. However, the characterization should be noted as being extremely close to the original source material. A nice read. No rating as it is just an excerpt.

“The Archie Hunters” by Jon L. Breen

Written in 1968, but never published until now. A cross of Nero Wolfe and Mike Hammer. Mock Himmler beats the crap out of anyone he encounters, particularly if they disagree with him or do something he doesn’t like. After beating up a news seller for carrying a “commie” magazine, Mock discovers an ad in the back requesting a private investigator for a missing person case. The ad, placed by Nero Wolfe, leads Mock to presume the missing person is Archie Goodwin. I’ve never been a fan of Mike Hammer nor his creator, Mickey Spillane, finding both of them to be disgusting in their love of violence, misogyny, and attitudes in general. I did enjoy this story nonetheless. 4 out of 5

“The Frightened Man” by O. X. Rusett

Gave up early on this anagram-stuffed story, even to the author’s name. More annoying than clever or cute. DNF

“Chapter 1 from ‘Murder in E Minor’” by Robert Goldsborough

I read the whole book when it was first published and, frankly, wasn’t too impressed. I do know that Goldsborough was selected by the Stout Estate to be the official author of the novels and I have read a few of his more recent books. I may try and reread it sometime down the road to see if my opinion has changed. No rating as it is only one chapter.

“The Purloined Platypus” by Marvin Kaye

While Goldsborough has the exclusive novel rights, Kaye asked to write short stories and was given the Estate’s permission as long as no novels were ever written. Benjamin Moultrie, president and board chairman of the Museum of the Strange, Odd and Peculiar, wants to hire Wolfe to investigate a robbery at the museum. As I wasn’t reading the magazines such as Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock, I missed reading any of these stories. Which is quite a tragedy. Excellent portrayals of not only the characters, but the case itself. 4 out of 5.

Parodies (Exaggerated imitations intended to poke fun at the source material)

“The House on 35th Street” by Frank Littler

Originally appeared in The Saturday Review in 1966. Little is known about the author, despite Pachter’s research attempts. A crowd is assembled in the Brownstone in a murder case, wanting to see some of the detective’s famous actions and quirks. There is an undercurrent of a very personal nature, especially at the end. 3.5 out of 5

“The Sidekick Case” by Patrick Butler

Another entry from The Saturday Review, this time in 1968, and another case of little information on the author. Wolfe objects to Archie being called a “sidekick” in a listing of the latest book. Cute. 3.5 out of 5

“The Case of the Disposable Jalopy” by Mack Reynolds

America has turned into an illiterate welfare state, Wolfe and Archie are old and sometimes forgetful, and things are beyond tight financially. Reynolds uses the last names of some of the biggest authors in Science Fiction in the story. These men want to hire Wolfe for a case of sabotage and the disappearance of a key developer. What a weird world Reynolds has built. As to the updates on the normal cast of characters in the series? Well, I never liked Orrie anyway. 4 out of 5

“As Dark as Christmas Gets” by Lawrence Block

An unpublished manuscript written by Cornell Woolrich is stolen during a Christmas party. The owner hires Wolfe wannabe Leo Haig and his Goodwin substitute, Chip Harrison, to recover it. I’ve come across stories in this series before and loved them, both for the obvious affection for the source material as well as the excellent characterization. 4.5 out of 5

“Who’s Afraid of Nero Wolfe?” by Loren D. Estleman

Arnie Woodbine, currently on parole, was fired from his last job for gambling on company time. He needs a job and finds an ad looking for an assistant sharp of wit. He finds himself hired by Claudius Lyon, a corpulent man with delusions of being Nero Wolfe. Arnie is hired as his Archie. Now all they need is a case. Since Lyon doesn’t have a private detective license and Arnie’s felony record prevents him from ever getting one, they would not be able to charge for their services. No problem as Lyon is actually quite wealthy. Their first case is regarding a poetry award that carries with it a $10,000 prize. One winner doesn’t appear to actually exist. Seriously one of the best sendups that I’ve ever read! This was a delight to read and deserved more stories. 4.5 out of 5.

“Julius Katz and the Case of Exploding Wine” by Dave Zeltserman

A friend of Julius’ that has a champion bulldog and heads a dog food company comes to see Julius with the dog in tow, asking for help to find someone to prevent Brutus from being kidnapped. He also asks that Julius find his murderer if he’s killed. Sure enough, the man is killed. Julius had agreed to investigate, but only after he gave the police a week to solve it themselves. Just as the week is up, an adversary calls to warn Julius that there is a bomb in his house, contained in a box of wine. Julius allows almost everyone to believe he is dead after the townhouse is completely destroyed from top to bottom. I absolutely loved this sorta tribute to Rex Stout. I’m particularly intrigued by Archie, an AI who is installed in Julius’ tie pin. That alone has me eyeing the book collections, but to be honest, this is a damn fine mystery. Julius is definitely not Nero Wolfe, at least in size, athleticism (martial arts), and loving women (a former womanizer who now has a regular girlfriend). He definitely is in the aspects of intelligence, laziness, and cutting Archie out of the loop. His collecting focus is wine rather than orchids, but both can be very expensive hobbies. 4.5 out of 5.

“The Possibly Last Case of Tiberius Dingo” by Michael Bracken

Age and diet are catching up to Tiberius Dingo’s body, but his mind and deductive reasoning is still as sharp as ever. His long-time assistant, Jughead Badloss, brings a client he dances with at the Senior Center, a woman who is certain she is being stalked. Family ties and age-old secrets are ripped out into the open before the case is done, for their client and for Jughead himself. The names are a little lame, but the story made up for it. 3.5 out of 5.

Potpourri

“The Woman Who Read Rex Stout” by William Brittain

Gertrude Jellison was the fat lady at a carnival sideshow, an intelligent woman whose extreme weight, over 500 pounds, kept her from her dream job of teaching psychology. Her partner, Robert Kirby, is the thin man, barely weighing seventy-five pounds. As a stunt, the carnival boss gave her Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe books to read during the shows. Surprisingly enough, Gert loved them and continued reading. She never expected to use what she learned to solve a murder, but sadly a newer member of the troup, a beautiful woman named Lili who was like a daughter to Gert, is murdered and the older woman knows she can solve the crime. This is a character that I could seriously have loved to read more about. A good little mystery as well, even if I quickly realized who the murderer would turn out to be. 3.5 out of 5.

“Sam Buried Caesar” by Josh Pachter

Police inspector Griffen had eleven children, each of whom was named after a famous fictional detective. Nero, just eleven years old, had set up his own detective agency, aided by his best friend and neighbor Artie Goodman. Their latest client, Sam, came to them after his dog, Caesar, was hit and killed by an out-of-state driver. Not wanting the poor animal to be left coldly abandoned on the street, he buried the dog in an empty lot. Coming back a short time later to get Caesar’s collar, the body is missing. He hires Nero and Artie to find the killer and recover the body. Sad and cute and inventive, but how Artie puts up with Nero will always be a mystery. 3.5 out of 5.

“Chapter 24 from Rasputin’s Revenge” by John Lescroart

The basic premise is that Nero Wolfe is the son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler. I’ve not read this particular book, but it appears to be the last chapter in which Archie and Wolfe, going under his original name, are in Russia, appeared to have come up against Gregori Rasputin (although the author has it as Gregory), and was helped by Holmes and Dr. Watson after they were wanted for murder. I’m not going to rate it as I don’t consider it fair to rate a novel based on just one chapter.

“A scene from Might as Well Be Dead” by Joseph Goodrich

Adaptation of the story into a play. Once again, not rated.

“The Damned Doorbell Rang” by Robert Lopresti

When their fourteen granddaughter came to visit in a snit because her parents won’t allow her to go with friends to a concert in New York City, Eve and Jack decide to tell her about why they left the City. When they were younger, they had a brownstone in the City. Their neighbors were definitely different, all men living there. Jack didn’t much like any of them and keeps disparaging Eve’s stories about what they saw while living there. But Eve tells a tale of how she saved the men’s lives. Too many close calls are the reason that they moved to New Jersey. How could I not love this outsider’s look at Nero Wolfe? 3.5 out of 5.

#book review #Nero Wolfe #collection #The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe #Josh Pachter #mystery #short stories

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autoirishlitdiscourses · 3 years

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Discourse of Saturday, 24 July 2021

Questions and answers from the second, and what positions do you see these ideas represented in the comparison is worthwhile to make any changes, it may just be that you would prepare for your grade is calculated as follows: If you are capable of this. Extra half percent, you're right on the clock and think carefully about at a coffee shop, I think that your grade.

You move over some important thematic issues to say here to be exchanged for it if you have received a boost of a letter grade is. Have a good job of contextualizing the novel drives home the unsettling conclusion that broadens and shows that you've got a good job of tracing some important points, though, and what they wanted to make abstract cognitive assessments without being so understanding. Give us a touch, too, that it would be a bit short. Again, please let me know if you show up and talking about why these are different kinds of people the characters are, and how you see them instantiated in the play, it will be, and there, really perceptive readings of all of your discussion in my box in the paper to say to i says in this direction would be for you for a more analytically incisive paper. I'm sorry to take so long to get back to some extent as you possibly can, OK? All in all. What kinds of people wrote on his paper, just over 87% in the class and is taking an opportunity for students in front of the alternatives—I can find out about it from being a good discussion for the week. You to, but afraid to shove more reading at you unless your medical condition mandates additional section absences, then a single college lecture?

/Missing section during the first three paragraph exactly of the B-81. These leaves you with feedback on your new topic if you have any other questions! Do you need to know what the boss says in the Ulysses lectures which, given Ulysses, Stephen mentions to Buck Mulligan that he will be distributed in lecture yesterday: The email addresses on the final exam. That's all that you could do a strong delivery overall. Good luck on the morning! If you're viewing this with a pen in your printed paper, and we can discuss your grade, divided as follows: If your percentage grade for the main characters is constructed by identifying them the main characters in order to be docking you points for section this quarter, which, given the sophistication that your ideas to each other in achieving that goal. Unfortunately, I don't know what's convenient. Keep an eye on a technicality. Got big then. For the sake of having them fresh in their junior year, but writing a novel about family troubles and perhaps by doing background reading on aspects of the people who wind up not promoting discussion in my box when you've done a number of excellent observations in your delivery; perfect textual accuracy; impassioned sense of the Irish as postcolonial subjects; probably others. I know what's going on by and make annotations as you can connect larger-scale themes to specific passages in question. Academic dishonesty in the 6 p. The Search for the edition of Opened Ground. Here are the only one freedom for' th' workin man: control; tomorrow night! Totally up to a specific point that you're essentially doing a genuinely excellent job! I've gestured toward, though not comprehensively—cleaning these up is a bit in the morning!

That's OK.

I'll see you next week! Your writing is very generous Chu—You have some very perceptive readings of several course texts this may not get in without waiting at 3:30 to discuss and haven't had enough coffee today. Each of you effectively boosted the other's grade while you are at getting the group. If you pick up absolutely every point. So, if you want me to. If it's all right with you that there aren't other very productive, because that's a pretty safe guess, that particular selection and delivered it accurately, and don't have an excellent delivery. Again, please let me know if you can't get to specifics. One is that the overall understanding of the section during Thanksgiving also counts for purposes of your discussion could have more to offer them to avoid responding directly to every comment, and you really have done some strong work on an assignment for next week if you get the other students in your delivery does not conform to the skin on her mind simply because it verges on nonsense in places, and will not wind up being quite receptive to discussion in relation to this? I think that a number of points ostensibly on the unnumbered page right after the meeting you'd have to declare immediately; you're now a month and a bit more I could tell you that your occasional assertions that you were comfortable using silence to motivate other people would probably be the sign of maturity, and one option from section 1 and one option from section that night, and this will hopefully help to define each of your grade later in your discussion of the play's rhythm in the text, and you're absolutely welcome to adapt it, make selections from other sources, though it was more lecture and section times and locations for my sections but don't care which, given Ulysses, but that's basically what it means to be one, but certainly not beyond you, we can meet at a coffee shop?

If this is absolutely nothing wrong with only picking, say, genuine misreadings. Ultimately, I think, but did not, let it motivate other people think about the relationship between your source texts, one productive move, too, so I abandoned my discussion of as close to ten minutes if you'd like. Let me know how many people wanted to be interpreting this broadly and not using it. I will not only contributes to your overall grade for the student's ideas.

Again, please leave the room, were engaged and participatory, as well. Again, I'm dying for it somewhat later by coming back and from section that you are one of the Artist As a Young Man, which is a lot of ways, and you've done a number of fingers at the last line. But moving up into the phrase Irish Rebellion: The question What is the only or best way to add a class without a big paperwork headache.

I'll see you next quarter. Incidentally, several students have ever worked with. How this construction of this offer to anyone else, which would have to know when you're up in, so I thought I was wondering whether we'll be having section during the early 20th centuries, though, #3, what produces his unusual narration? See Wikipedia's article Curragh p.

I'll see you next week 13 November On poems by Seamus Heaney, Requiem for the quarter by as much as possible. Take care of your argument as sophisticated as it could be. To be more fair to Yeats, The Stolen Child 5 p. You are absolutely capable of doing their recitations may wind up giving answers to these small-scale, but you added to the section they describe. It just needs to be fully successful. Hi! However, you basically need to make selections from it, mentally or out loud, when the Irish nation is portrayed as a useful skill, too, depending on time. You were clearly a bit before I go to the class, with your little bridie to be less able to avoid the outside world, on the other TAs for the purpose of helping to advance your central argument.

Going slightly later would take you into the abstract, all potentially productive ways that multiple texts, and your writing is lucid and enjoyable. Something I should be on the one he read would be ideal for me if this or in the third paragraph of the room, but I think that it had been set to music. Needing to study harder, but the more helpful my feedback will be spent on reviewing for the quarter when we talked earlier today, and what you'll drop if you have attended for attendance and participation; if you can't go over, and this is a really good reason for this particular assignment, and have not yet worked out for you at the top eight or so announcement to your other questions, OK?

Similar things could be squeezed in most ways, and some broader course concerns. Thanks for letting me know when and where it is that if someone else steals your thunder thematically, you should know the details of the three F's, but both were genuinely minor errors, and you structure your presentation. Absolutely. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem performing The Butcher Boy, and modeling this for everyone is also quite short and contains some very, very general prompt, and you've done a good understanding of a small number of things would have been avoiding presenting conclusions in favor of asking questions that motivated good discussion point as might your others. I do not use GauchoSpace to calculate grades, discussed in the topic has been quite a good start here, and you incorporate the required texts in section. Ultimately, what are the similarities and differences, exactly, by the romance meta-critically about your own presuppositions in more depth. However, if you'd like. I realize that these people who see the world will know in advance of the whole class really was close to convenient and painless as possible, and ask people to engage in a college class, and converted the interior monologue into intelligible and articulate and the Dubliners-Finnegan's Wake mentioned in/Ulysses/is not a full recitation schedule in both my sections at that point, because: Thanksgiving is optional in the novel and brought up some important material provided an interpretive pathway into what Yeats wants to this, though it was due to my office after getting a why you can't get it graded as soon as you know that you've made matters in the first few paragraphs and think about how you can frame your argument from lecture on/Godot/has not always an easy task, as always, we can meet you last night looking back over a draft of a stretch. As I said in the future. One would be crucial to making your paper must be completed based on your way into the selection in the same grade. I'm just trying to suggest ways that you do a good idea in a number of recitations, that there should be on that without also pulling in the term. Have a good job of tracing developments in Irish literature, due to the aspects of your education, some of the work that you know you've got a general idea that will occasionally have reminders, announcements, and you have any of these terms explicitly in connections between the various settings in The Butcher Boy song on p. It is not productive about Fluther's point of causing interpretive difficulty for the class up very effectively to larger concerns.

So I'd like you.

I currently have a word with him? She knew from the concrete into the story if you'd like. There will be on that component of your life, you may contact UCSB's Title IX Compliance Office, the impossibility of meaningfully taking a heavy task: Judge Woolsey's decision that/the first place in the first people to talk about is some material that you were a lot of important themes in the early part of broad cultural changes in Irish literature, using established academic practices, which requires you to develop, so I wanted to discuss 2 before 1, because I'm not mad at any stage of the course at this stage of conceptualizing and writing a paper, but his personal experience it can do to be more comfortable with the disclaimer that much of the poem's rhythm and showed this in any reasonable person could disagree with you and the way that pays off more. The code that I've given it another way, especially of Yeats poem to memorize because of its lack of authorial framing in the best person to do both, that you are hopefully already memorizing. Let me know whether that's a pretty amazing group of students in the lead a discussion of What We Lost Paul Muldoon, Quoof McCabe Butcher Boy song 6 p. I'm looking forward to you. Please feel free to come talk to me. All of which parts of The Family Guy called Saving Private Brian, which is a smart decision. —I think that your paper this means, essentially, is to engage in discussion, but some students may not yet done the reading of the things I'm less than thrilled about with this by dropping into lecture mode if people aren't prepared, it's easier for me to say, Leopold Bloom or Francie Brady, his relationship with each other in regard to this offer to anyone else is doing so productively might be productive. Again, I'm sorry to take smaller cognitive leaps immediately, you don't have an excellent job with it. Thanks for your recitation, too. The Plough and the discussion, because I realized that your argument in a way that it looks like you're writing more of an A-range, I think that there are certainly welcome to cut peat, or didn't when you give a quiz. Let me know if you want to write your paper, you may leave your luggage during section, which is vitally important to the characteristics that you are a couple of ways. Reminder: section is actually doing and what will be given away on a big difference in how you're using the add code for that section; c their research paper was not his highest priority this quarter. I'm getting back to you. I felt occasionally that the person who was buried that morning in terrace she was in your final paper? Here is the only major topic that I may not be tolerated. One thing that I left them in section. Maybe the student engaging in an earlier discussion of Calypso, with Stephen's rather strained relationship with their wedding rings on, and you played a very thorough apparatus for reading the play itself; you also managed time well, actually, because poteen was illegal in Ireland at the end of the facts of Yeats's poem, delivered it in a printed copy in my office with the same part of the salient features of the word love to mean, and you had a good job of discussion. Good choice; I like, since I'm going to give you some feedback about what constitutes evidence, and I'll remove my copy of your material effectively and in a negative value judgment: that sexual desire that wraps in a way of taking the F word. Just a quick search. You picked a longer paper. Do you need to be posted to the group's silence in response to a secret resignation. Grade: A-—You've got a lot of ways that you detect. Of course, as documented in writing already: please remember that its structure was articulated more explicitly about what bird symbolism in general, I think that there are any changes made I will be held tomorrow SH 2635, and you picked to the section website. Still, I'm happy to do in leading a discussion of the room. We will be on campus tomorrow afternoon but have held off on writing back to eGrades when the Irish nationalism, and died after. The use of props and costuming was nice to meet, OK? You've got some really perceptive set of texts. It turns out that I can reschedule for Dec. In exchange, I think, are the song performances themselves, but do so as quickly as possible; if you fall back on it not perhaps rather the case, that it will help to ground your analysis. In particular, for instance, if you'd like. If it's all right with this number of things well, but they can take to be expressed in a way into a complex task and trace a clear cubist depiction of a historical text it just so happens that I really hope that the best night to do at the beginning, though not the case and I quite liked it. Think about what your grade is 62. It's been a clue, and this is reflected here, and listens to a copy of the larger structure of the right page on your own writing and thinking skills here, and I think that, going into the midterm was graded correctly. You picked a longer-than-required selection and recovered well and that everything is going to say that I show you as a whole.

You really do have a handout with thoughtful questions and comments that you yourself have done some very very hastily is generally not only done a lot of ways, you've done a lot of ways, and probably see parallels to Francie's narration, but it's up to 1. Sent me this long to get to all your material gracefully and in terms of the novel's plot and thematic development. I think you've got an interesting contemporary poet, and prejudicial or hate speech will not wind up satisfying any breadth requirements; but these are impressive moves. On interpretations that the paper just barely push you down to structural issues with your little darlin' bridie to be helpful during paper-grading rubric composed entirely of Samuel Beckett: The study of 'Ulysses' is, I think that your section self-esteem. You picked a very good questions and comments by dropping into lecture mode if people aren't prepared, it's easier for me to say and got the lowest score of all but the most important of which parts of your total grade for the course to pull you up out of the play's rhythm in the email but don't yet see a different text on a set of additional purposes, as one day late is slightly larger than the other side, I think that your basic idea is good for your thoughts might be Akira Lippit's recent Atomic Light: Shadow Optics. Must have been even more effectively saying exactly what is difficult selection to memorize because of this audio or video recording of your questions? Goes With Fergus, Song of the section Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't want to try harder on future writing. I absolutely understand that it's impossible to pass the class, then responded to your overall grade for the temptation offered to people by commodities and the English Language; Giorgio Agamben's Homo Sacer. Ultimately, you did a really strong job with a lot of similarities to yours, and what exactly is at any time without hurting their grade at the end of the Discussion Section Guidelines handout, which would have helped to have practiced a bit more would have most needed in order to receive a passing grade for the bus on your paper is not quite a nice touch, and you accomplished a lot of silences and retractions in your introduction and conclusion feel a bit nervous, but I felt like you know, and perhaps others as lenses into. A-range papers: These papers address the text you'll be stuck with it? I'm giving them some points for not doing so by 10 p. Hi! Hi! You've got some good ideas, and the section website: good reading of those works, we can meet at a bare minimum length if the maximum possible number of things going on as soon as possible, but I think the fairest grade to a copy for my records, and seemed to be on campus today, but it is ultimately up to you.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

It never compares, at the high end of the following characters in order to be, if you need to have particular specific takes on gender. So you can go on Tuesday, 3, and quite enjoyed reading it. If we're getting in Nausicaa and The Cook, the Christian symbolism of motherhood, those who haven't yet decided what order I'll call people in, and I quite liked it. The value quoted is the midterm during this optional session than will be Patrick Kavanagh's On Raglan Road 6 p.

697, p. More broadly, what is Mary likely to see your intelligence and critical acumen is taken to mean what it means this is a move Joyce was making in writing already: please take a look at the final exam, send me an email saying that you consult, including class, and so I did better. The Plough and the standard conventions of formal writing including appropriate grammar, punctuation problems, or. Another way to motivate discussion, depending on where you want to recite, OK? What he did on section one.

That's fine however, two things. As you probably still have plenty of time, so it hasn't hurt your grade, but will get back to you. Thanks for working so hard this quarter so far a very good job digging in to me. That is, after all are quite open-ended that people have prepared as your thesis statement will allow it to me, but I have a perceptive argument that your central argument? All of these are impressive moves. I just think that your texts; it sounds, because I necessarily agree with you that your recitation, please bring your luggage in my box when you've done a very strong because it prevents me from carrying annoyance at a performance of O'Casey's The Plough and the professor's reading of a particular orthodoxy of belief or that themes are reflected in course; explains basis for course grade. But you did a good presence in front of a novel by an Irishman. Thanks for being a nuanced critic of your elements work together in a single paper. Overall, you made changed the last day to drop by the rhythm-and micro-level English course should be motivated by nervousness, and got a lot in this regard I promise that I'm not in terms of which is entirely plausible if you have previously requested that I didn't think of anything to talk about is some material that you score at the final! I mean, here is to to think not about how you're feeling better! Whatever's best for your listeners. Also, before falling asleep, while sitting in my 6pm section for instance, you know that you've chosen, and what this paper, you're welcome to send a new document. It's perfectly OK to look closely for evidence. Ideally, you might think about what your overall discussion goals and points in the play, or in the morning! This is not a good set of arguments about a particular idea is going to be productive to look at what actually matters. I'm looking forward to your presentation out longer, I really did a number of excellent observations in your thesis statement into its final form until the end of the Flies, and that she's not telling the truth is very promising … and then making sure that you're dealing with it. This are comparatively small errors, etc. One percent/for leading an insightful, focused discussion about the offer, that proofreading and editing a bit more. Have a good one, which was true, in addition to reciting in section will have to choose something else, but will be recited by one line because I necessarily think that her suicide occurs when Francie runs away, which is not a bad move, which are quite perceptive. Either 1:00. Section issues? Hello, I think that there is a strong preference and I'll have to follow up a structure about masculine and feminine lines of inheritance that is also a complex and insightful analyses of a country Begins as attachment to our understanding of the paper. I posted to the larger-scale issues and weaves them gracefully without losing the momentum of your paper most needs at this point would be to have is a thinking process that will be in order to minimize disruption to other students, too, and setting a positive influence on your grade by Friday and I'll be around campus earlier if you're leaving town.

Aside from the rest of the group to read. Remember that your analytical exploration of Digging and other visual aids that will help you to providing an introduction to things that could have been is in range for the course to pull your grade more. Here's a breakdown on your paper. That audio clip is certainly OK. One of the quarter to get to all of which is to find ways to make real contributions in section tonight.

I think that the probability that she's not telling the truth is very lucid and very engaging, in The Walking Dead, which is an attempt to look at it with other students in the meantime or have any questions about how to draw out a number of presentations. What is the full text of Irish identity that has to be avoiding picking too many good ideas.

#Irish literature #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Python #Markov chains

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orbemnews · 3 years

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What is Going on with China, Cotton and All of These Clothing Brands? Last week, calls for the cancellation of H&M and other Western brands went out across Chinese social media as human rights campaigns collided with cotton sourcing and political gamesmanship. Here’s what you need to know about what’s going on and how it may affect everything from your T-shirts to your trench coats. What’s all this I’m hearing about fashion brands and China? Did someone make another dumb racist ad? No, it’s much more complicated than an offensive and obvious cultural faux pas. The issue centers on the Xinjiang region of China and allegations of forced labor in the cotton industry — allegations denied by the Chinese government. Last summer, many Western brands issued statements expressing concerns about human rights in their supply chain. Some even cut ties with the region all together. Now, months later, the chickens are coming home to roost: Chinese netizens are reacting with fury, charging the allegations are an offense to the state. Leading Chinese e-commerce platforms have kicked major international labels off their sites, and a slew of celebrities have denounced their former foreign employers. Why is this such a big deal? The issue has growing political and economic implications. On the one hand, as the pandemic continues to roil global retail, consumers have become more attuned to who makes their clothes and how they are treated, putting pressure on brands to put their values where their products are. One the other, China has become an evermore important sales hub to the fashion industry, given its scale and the fact that there is less disruption there than in other key markets, like Europe. Then, too, international politicians are getting in on the act, imposing bans and sanctions. Fashion has become a diplomatic football. This is a perfect case study of what happens when market imperatives come up against global morality. Tell me more about Xinjiang and why it is so important. Xinjiang is a region in northwest China that happens to produce about a fifth of the world’s cotton. It is home to many ethnic groups, especially the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority. Though it is officially the largest of China’s five autonomous regions, which in theory means it has more legislative self-control, the central government has been increasingly involved in the area, saying it must exert its authority because of local conflicts with the Han Chinese (the ethnic majority) who have been moving into the region. This has resulted in draconian restrictions, surveillance, criminal prosecutions and forced-labor camps. OK, and what about the Uyghurs? A predominantly Muslim Turkic group, the Uyghur population within Xinjiang numbers just over 12 million, according to official figures released by Chinese authorities. As many as one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been retrained to become model workers, obedient to the Chinese Communist Party via coercive labor programs. So this has been going on for awhile? At least since 2016. But after The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios and others published reports that connected Uyghurs in forced detention to the supply chains of many of the world’s best-known fashion retailers, including Adidas, Lacoste, H&M, Ralph Lauren and the PVH Corporation, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, many of those brands reassessed their relationships with Xinjiang-based cotton suppliers. In January, the Trump administration banned all imports of cotton from the region, as well as products made from the material and declared what was happening “genocide.” At the time, the Workers Rights Consortium estimated that material from Xinjiang was involved in more than 1.5 billion garments imported annually by American brands and retailers. That’s a lot! How do I know if I am wearing a garment made from Xinjiang cotton? You don’t. The supply chain is so convoluted and subcontracting so common that often it’s hard for brands themselves to know exactly where and how every component of their garments is made. So if this has been an issue for over a year, why is everyone in China freaking out now? It isn’t immediately clear. One theory is that it is because of the ramp-up in political brinkmanship between China and the West. On March 22, Britain, Canada, the European Union and the United States announced sanctions on Chinese officials in an escalating row over the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Not long after, screenshots from a statement posted in September 2020 by H&M citing “deep concerns” about reports of forced labor in Xinjiang, and confirming that the retailer had stopped buying cotton from growers in the region, began circulating on Chinese social media. The fallout was fast and furious. There were calls for a boycott, and H&M products were soon missing from China’s most popular e-commerce platforms, Alibaba Group’s Tmall and JD.com. The furor was stoked by comments on the microblogging site Sina Weibo from groups like the Communist Youth League, an influential Communist Party organization. Within hours, other big Western brands like Nike and Burberry began trending for the same reason. And it’s not just consumers who are up in arms: Influencers and celebrities have also been severing ties with the brands. Even video games are bouncing virtual “looks” created by Burberry from their platforms. Backtrack: What do influencers have to do with all this? Influencers in China wield even more power over consumer behavior than they do in the West, meaning they play a crucial role in legitimizing brands and driving sales. When Tao Liang, otherwise known as Mr. Bags, did a collaboration with Givenchy, for example, the bags sold out in 12 minutes; a necklace-bracelet set he made with Qeelin reportedly sold out in one second (there were 100 made). That’s why H&M worked with Victoria Song, Nike with Wang Yibo and Burberry with Zhou Dongyu. But Chinese influencers and celebrities are also sensitive to pleasing the central government and publicly affirming their national values, often performatively choosing their country over contracts. In 2019, for example, Yang Mi, the Chinese actress and a Versace ambassador, publicly repudiated the brand when it made the mistake of creating a T-shirt that listed Hong Kong and Macau as independent countries, seeming to dismiss the “One China” policy and the central government’s sovereignty. Not long afterward, Coach was targeted after making a similar mistake, creating a tee that named Hong Kong and Taiwan separately; Liu Wen, the Chinese supermodel, immediately distanced herself from the brand. And what’s with the video games? Tencent removed two Burberry-designed “skins” — outfits worn by video game characters that the brand had introduced with great fanfare — from its popular title Honor of Kings as a response to news that the brand had stopped buying cotton produced in the Xinjiang region. The looks had been available for less than a week. So this is hitting both fast fashion and the high end. How much of the fashion world is involved? Potentially, most of it. So far Adidas, Nike, Converse and Burberry have all been swept up in the crisis. Even before the ban, additional companies like Patagonia, PVH, Marks & Spencer and the Gap had announced that they did not source material from Xinjiang and had officially taken a stance against human rights abuses. This week, however, several brands, including VF Corp., Inditex (which owns Zara) and PVH all quietly removed their policies against forced labor from their websites. That seems squirrelly. Is this likely to escalate? Brands seem to be concerned that the answer is yes, since, apparently fearful of offending the Chinese government, some companies have proactively announced that they will continue buying cotton from Xinjiang. Hugo Boss, the German company whose suiting is a de facto uniform for the financial world, posted a statement on Weibo saying, “We will continue to purchase and support Xinjiang cotton” (even though last fall the company had announced it was no longer sourcing from the region). Muji, the Japanese brand, is also proudly touting its use of Xinjiang cotton on its Chinese websites, as is Uniqlo. Wait … I get playing possum, but why would a company publicly pledge its allegiance to Xinjiang cotton? It’s about the Benjamins, buddy. According to a report from Bain & Company released last December, China is expected to be the world’s largest luxury market by 2025. Last year it was the only part of the world to report year on year growth, with the luxury market reaching 44 billion euros ($52.2 billion). Is anyone going to come out of this well? One set of winners could be the Chinese fashion industry, which has long played second fiddle to Western brands, to the frustration of many businesses there. Shares in Chinese apparel groups and textile companies with ties to Xinjiang rallied this week as the backlash gained pace. And more than 20 Chinese brands publicly made statements touting their support for Chinese cotton. Source link Orbem News #brands #China #clothing #Cotton

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wincestreversebang · 7 years

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2017 Master Post

Sexual Addiction Clinics Are Not Dating Services Artist: emmatheslayer Author: anon1adult Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: PWP || Great liberties were taken in regard to Addiction Treatment Centers Staff/Client interactions. Summary: Dean pressed a hand to his forehead in frustration. He gets caught having sex with one coworker over his desk and suddenly his boss is standing in his office saying, "Your work here at Sandover is invaluable Dean, and we don't want to lose that sharp mind of yours over a little misunderstanding. Instead of having this go on your record as a sexual harassment complaint we've decided you should attend a 30-day Sexual Addiction treatment center." It was like the bad setup to every porn Dean had ever watched. Art: Live Journal Story: Tumblr | Ao3

Lost And Found Artist: sketchydean Author: wetsammywinchester Rating: R Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Sam was five when it happened. Dean never gave up looking for his little brother but thirteen years of thin leads led nowhere. Until now. Art: Tumblr Story: Ao3

The Dark Place Artist: stormbrite Author: annie46 Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Suicidal thoughts, incest. Spoilers for Season 12 particularly the earlier episodes Summary: Mary gives Sam & Dean a hunting assignment - zombies. It seems simple enough but soon they discover that there is something much more sinister going on, and they find themselves in a very dark place. Art: Live Journal | Ao3 Story: Live Journal

Overdue Artist: 2blueshoes Author: laughablelament Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Up through 12x11, “Regarding Dean” Summary: “Maybe Sam’s right about the time off. Whatever else that he-witch did, seems like he defragged Dean’s hard drive. Changed all the file pathways, because, the shit he keeps remembering…” Art: Ao3 Story: Ao3

It’s not what it Looks Like Artist: stargazingchola Author: nerdypastrychef Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Bottom Sam, 96, barebacking, sexual tension, Mary finds out Summary: Working with a large group of people trained in observation has brought a lot of annoying comments to Sam and Dean recently. The tension and annoyance mounts until it finally reaches it’s breaking point. Art: Live Journal Story: Live Journal | Ao3

One of the Rotten Ones Artist: Sketchydean Author: lolo313 Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Throughout the years, through group homes and run-ins with the law, Sam and Dean have always had each other. With the other by their side, somehow they always make it through, even if their methods aren’t always legal. A collection of Sam’s birthdays, Dean’s fierce protectiveness, and Sam’s growing, undeniable love for his brother. Art: Tumblr Story: Ao3

The Dark Side of Apple Pie Artist: darklittleheart96 Author: anon1adult Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Rape/Non-con Elements || Rope Bondage Summary: Dean took a chance to set things right but it was foolish to think a knife would end God's Sister. Almost as foolish as thinking she wouldn't take his soul. Sam knows there is something wrong with his brother, but Dean's spike in kinky has him running on too much of an endorphin high to figure out what it is. Art: Tumblr Story: Ao3

Counting Bodies Like Sheep Artist: abeautifullie3 Author: darklittleheart Other Pairing: VERY brief Sam/OC; References to past Sam/OCs & Dean/OCs Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Wincest; FBI Agent!Dean; Mob Boss!Sam; Non-Hunting AU; Graphic Sex; Rough Sex; Non-Con; Graphic Violence; Minor Gore; Mild BDSM (no discipline, no S/M); Breath Play;Passing Mention of Sounding; Object Insertion; Drug Use (referenced, not depicted); References To Alcohol Abuse; Passing Reference To Homophobia; Minor Homophobic Slurs;References To Sam/OCs & Dean/OCs; VERY Brief Sam/OC; Badass!Boys Being, Well, Brothers...Who Fuck; Badass!Boys Falling In-love; Dean Winchester Is A Closet Kinky MOFO- errr...BroFO; Analingus/aka: Rimming/aka: Dean Eating the Fuck Outta Sammy's Ass; Prostitution – Including Underage (referenced, not depicted); Underage Physical and Sexual Abuse (referenced, not depicted); Death of Minor Characters and OCs; Death of Underage OCs (referenced, not depicted); Fast and Loose Legal – and Medical – Procedures; I Reiterate, AU, One In Which Jamaica Embraces the Rainbow...and Butt!Sex For All; Unless Your Kink Twists That Way (not shaming!), and You Squint Headache Inducingly Hard – No Underage Fapping Material In This One; Dark Themes and Depictions = Debatably Dark!fic; ...and, after all that: Happy Ending. Summary: Sam D'Eboli is a mobster. Special Agent Dean Winchester is assigned to take him down. Dean's okay with that double entendre...until he isn't. A connection that won't be denied, and secrets revealed, Dean's objective may no longer be the same as the FBI's. Art: Live Journal Story: Live Journal | Ao3

As The Morning Cries Artist: loracine Author: anniespinkhouse Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: ptsd, references to torture Summary: Set in Season 12 some time after First Blood. With Sam clearly traumatized every time he is near water Dean decides to hunt a morgen without him and becomes trapped. Alone in the dark again he has too much time to think and his only hope of escaping the faery realm is to keep his faith in Sam. Art: Live Journal Story: Ao3 | Dreamwidth

There's Something About Dean Lately Artist: tx_devilorangel Author: annie46 Other Pairing: Dean/everyone! Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers if you haven't seen any of Season 12. Summary: Seems that Mary wasn't the only person Amara brought back from the dead & soon the bunker is full of people. Dean seems to be very popular and, soon, every single person in the bunker wants to impress him. Flowers, chocolates, and the world itself are all on offer. Will Dean find his one true love amongst all of these suitors? And why is Sam acting so weirdly? Perhaps these two questions only have one answer...whatever that is, there is certainly something about Dean lately! Art: Live Journal Story: Live Journal

Fire Into Rain Artist: loracine Author: smalltrolven Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Turns out there are still dragons, Sam and Dean find that out the hard way. Art: Live Journal | Tumblr Story: Live Journal | Tumblr | Ao3

Nightmare Artist: kuwlshadow Rating: PG-13 Warnings: N/A Summary: Dean and Sam Winchester on a hunt on something that lurks in the dark. Art: Live Journal

Little Soul Artist: kuwlshadow Author: gatorgurl94 Rating: PG Warnings/Spoilers: mild language, boys kissing, spoilers for s8xep 23, suicidal ideation Summary: The path is a short one; it only takes a minute for them to come to its end where they find a pile of very familiar clothing- a scorched tan trench coat and what looks like a black suit jacket and pants- lying in the middle of blackened ground. There, on top of the pile lies the source of the wailing: a baby, its face pucefrom crying, its arms and legs kicking furiously as it continues to scream. Art: Live Journal Story: Ao3

Time Waits for No One Artist: kuwlshadow Author: amypond45 Rating: R Warnings/Spoilers: Minor spoilers up through s12ep17 Summary: During a routine hunt, Sam swaps places in time with his 13-year-old self. Dean and young-Sam try to fix it, taking a little road trip on the way, and Dean starts to think maybe things could be different this time. Art: Live Journal Story: Live Journal | Ao3

Shifting Destinies Artist: bluefire986 Author: lux_tuli Rating: PG-13 Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Drove away from their hometown, the Winchesters set up a life for themselves in the deepest reaches of the woods, a place which was largely left undisturbed by most humans. If only finding peace was so easy. Art: Live Journal | Ao3 Story: Dreamwidth

Our feet must tread in thorny paths Artist: stormbrite Author: soy_em Rating: R Warnings/Spoilers: show level violence Summary: Sick of killing innocents, first Sam and then Dean fled vampire society to pursue a life saving humans and hunting monsters. Now they find themselves on a case that threatens their new way of living, while trying to understand how to live and work together again. Art: Live Journal | Ao3 Story: Ao3

Blood Stained Ruby Lips Artist: bluefire986 Author: backrose_17 Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: King of Hell Dean, Demon Dean Winchester, Demon Blood Addict Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester Drinks Demon Blood From Dean Winchester, Top Dean, Bottom Sam Summary: Dean is having fun as a demon only one thing he will only serve one King of Hell and that is his Sammy and he begins forming a plan on how to make that happen. Sam, on the other hand is broken and lost without Dean and ends up turning to demon blood to find his brother's missing body. When Dean shows up at the bunker and after proving that he is still Dean only with a little twist he offers Sam his blood Sam can't say no and soon the Knight of Hell has his Boy King back. Art: Live Journal | Ao3 Story: Ao3

Two Hunters and A Baby Artist: tx_devilorangel Author: Vexed Wench Rating: PG Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Sam and Dean's night alone in the bunker is interrupted by Crowley needing an interesting favor. Art: Live Journal | Ao3 Story: Ao3

Caught in the Undertow Artist: stormbrite Author: blackrose_17 Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: AU after season 5, implied top!Dean, implied bottom!Sam and bullying. Summary: After the dealing with angels and demons, Sam and Dean are happy to get back to hunting monsters and Bobby sends them on the case of a group of missing teens and it doesn't take long for them to learn the teens missing are the school bullies and this might all be happening because someone wanting peace from them. Art: Live Journal | Ao3 Story: Ao3

To Be Yours Just Once Artist: tx_devilorangel Author: Vexed Wench Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Temporarily Female Sam Summary: Sam found an old spell that allowed him to have the one thing he wanted more than anything. Art: Ao3 Story: Ao3

The Real World Beneath the Dreaming Artist: loracine Author: gatorgurl94 Rating: PG Warnings/Spoilers: mild language Summary: Sam treads carefully. He’s been lectured enough about not being seen, about hiding in the shadows, about staying away from the winged creatures who cursed them to this existence. The creatures are the stuff of every Tussocks’ nightmare. They’re the reason Sam and his kind look the way they do, even if it’s not how they look to each other. The outside world can only see them as what the winged creatures cursed them to be: monsters. Art: Live Journal Story: Ao3

Let's Talk Artist: emmatheslayer Rating: G Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Jared is a veterinary and losses his favorite patient so he goes to therapist Jensen and falls in love as they have more sessions. Art: Live Journal

Good Pet Artist: Darklittleheart96 Author: Wearingdeantoprom Rating: R Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Sam is feeling the burden of being the King of Hell. Dean steps up to the plate to help ease the stress Art: Tumblr Story: Tumblr | Ao3

The King and the Exiled One Artist: bluefire986 Author: lux_tuli Rating: PG-13 Warnings/Spoilers: N/A Summary: Once a part of a happy, royal family, Dean is exiled from Lawrence after saving his half brother's life. He lives amongst a pack of wolves in the woods until one day something changes... Art: Live Journal Story: Dream Width

#mod post #wincestrbb 2017 #master post #master post 2017

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terryblount · 4 years

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Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review

It seems that gamers will never give Dragon Ball Z a chance to quit. Every time this 1989 anime looks ready for a peaceful retirement, it is once again dragged back into service sending 90’s kids spiraling into nostalgia, while a whole new generation falls in love with the show. Fighting games in particular have turned Akira Toriyama’s masterpiece into a magic goose with an infinite supply of golden eggs.

Yet, what lies beyond the fighting game genre for Dragon Ball Z has always represented something of an enigma for developers. The epic stand-offs against insanely powerful enemies are certainly a fundamental part of the anime, but they form part of deeper journey of Goku’s personal growth. No DBZ game has really been able to relay this in a meaningful experience.

Look Gohan! Daddy can move sideways in this game too!

Enter Dragon Ball Z Kakarot. With this game, Japan-based studio CyberConnect2 have taken the arena brawler formula from many of their Naruto titles, and wrapped the entire Dragon Ball Z epic around it. What they cobbled together is a wholly different kind of DBZ game with commendable respect for its source material, yet still falls prey to one too many of the open-world genre pitfalls.

Rock the dragon

Like the majority of Dragon Ball Z fighting games out on the market, DBZ Kakarot is similarly a melange of crucial story moments from the anime crafted into a playable experience. The anime’s main drawing point has always been the utter spectacle that ensues when powerful protagonists come face to face with god-like villains, and these moments are undoubtedly the stars of the show here.

Where CyberConnect2’s latest game distinguishes itself from its peers, however, is DBZ Kakarot’s interest in what leads up to these major showdowns. Rather than just ushering the player from one big fight to the next, the gameplay on the open-world maps becomes an opportunity to put time into grooming your character for the multiple boss encounters within each chapter.

I bet if you went through the anime frame by frame you would find scenes that match these pictures perfectly.

In other words, outside of fighting iconic adversaries like Androids, Frieza, or Cell, DBZ Kakarot takes on a much more relaxed and free pacing where the player can fly around the world hunting for collectables, can do some training, or pummel lesser enemies. Each locale has been utterly packed with oodles of the aforementioned loot which serves the purpose of enhancing your character’s abilities.

DBZ Kakarot is at its strongest when the game can make this entire experience feel like you are playing through the anime rather than watching it. Running on the Unreal Engine 4, the character models look utterly fantastic, and at times I had some difficulty distinguishing them from how they look on the show. This is easily on par with gorgeous visuals from Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The developers have also ensured that the fighting sequences do not hold back from eye-watering lighting and particle effects, as well as the actual sounds that defined the quirky aesthetics of the anime. By the time I reached the Kaio-ken four scene between Goku vs Vegeta, I squealed like a little school girl! You could feel that intensity through the screen, and in moments like these DBZ Kakarot shines.

Still my favourite scene from the entire anime

Unfortunately, while many in-combat animations have been done rather well, the open-world dialogue sequences are truly cringeworthy. The show’s real voice cast – including Seán Schemmel and Christopher Sabat – do their best, but the horrific wooden acting and Final Fantasy X-level awkward pauses between lines make these scenes an utter pain to sit through, and there are a LOT of them.

It’s over nine thousaaaaaaaand!

When the first moment arrived to try my hand at the combat mechanics, I instinctively switched over fighting game mode in my mind. As is the norm whenever I play a new fighting game, I anticipated the usual routine of pausing the game and committing some basic combos to memory before punching Piccolo right between his pointy ears…

Except there weren’t any combos or multi-button attacks to speak of. Instead, I learnt that the player will have access to the three basic actions throughout DBZ Kakarot’s combat sequences: Melee attacks, long-range energy blasts and that… blink/step… thing they do. That’s it. Only three inputs that always form the backbone for those flashy enemy encounters.

See how I totally missed Zarbon here? The game wants you to use energy attacks strategically, which means you cannot just spam them.

The reason why CyberConnect2 have gone with such a simplified, consistent combat system is to ensure that the leading character can be rotated as the story progresses, without the need for the player to learn new fighting moves. Moreover, keeping things simple also ensures that DBZ Kakarot keeps a balance between open-world, story-driven moments, and the more intense combat scenarios.

As such, the combat is based primarily on paying attention to the enemy’s attack patterns, and subsequently deciding what your character should do in that moment. Is the enemy close enough to attack, are they blocking, are they about to discharge an energy attack, or should I try to dodge their next move? You form an instinctive loop of these questions in your head the more you play.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Dragon Ball Z without the signature super moves, so the game does let the characters’ individuality shine through in these abilities. The player can therefore choose between a maximum of four different slots to fire energy blasts at enemies, and when fighting in groups, you can even call on your partners to assist with their super attacks.

I hope you like tutorial text; this game will throw A LOT at you! This is a big no no as this means the game was not designed so the player can learn how to play intuitively.

While combat is overall a robust and multi-layered system, I wish it could have been more responsive. The game does most of the work for you, but inputs are still dependent on the character finishing their animations, which means it was easy to descend into button-mashing. It was frustrating seeing characters failing to block, or not striking in an opening because they were still powering ahead with that combo you entered five seconds ago.

Open-world woes

I reviewed One Piece: World Seeker last year which, like DBZ Kakarot, is another Shonen Jump publication that finally shed the yoke of the fighting genre in exchange for an open-world design. Regrettably, several issues – such as a bland world and sterile gameplay – fatally ruptured what could have been a great recreation of the anime.

It seems that DBZ Kakarot was not paying attention to World Seeker’s failings as it duplicates several of them (albeit to a smaller degree). The most obvious problem in DBZ Kakarot is how the open-world gameplay yet again feels underdeveloped, and extremely repetitive.

You read that correctly, one of the side missions is literally helping Master Roshi find his porn. Why? Just WHY?

The different maps like Planet Namek or the island-strewn oceans around Kame House are decent replicas Dragon Ball Z’s settings, and they are pleasantly spacious. However, these areas rarely elevate beyond being collect-a-thon, sand boxes to find the same items over and over again. Even side quests are nothing more than finding lists of items, or fighting the same minor enemies over and over.

DBZ Kakarot’s reasoning behind these agonizingly generic, open-world quests is that the player is expected to use items like Z Orbs to upgrade their skill trees, or food ingredients to cook stats-boosting meals to consume before battles. In this way, the game is intended to convey the experience of preparing themselves for major encounters later on in the chapter(s).

Seriously, “She’s not happy”!? This is the best reason they could come up with for doing this side quest?

The reality is that I played through large chunks of DBZ Kakarot where I became aware of feeling utterly bored. Like One Piece: World Seeker, there is nothing broken in these systems even counting the cringy cut scenes. The issue is that the fun wears off after a few hours once you realise the open-world gameplay is a one-trick-pony. There is simply not enough variety in gameplay to justify the grinding.

Like anime, like game

I have an inkling that DBZ Kakarot was perhaps envisioned in the early phases of development as a turn-based JRPG since the game is built around strong elements of stats and grinding. This might explain why something feels seriously incomplete, and why DBZ Kakarot plays like different elements of open-world and RPG games that have been desperately cobbled together.

My takeaway from the forty or so hours spent in-game is that I vacillated between moments of nostalgic joy in reliving one of the most epic anime series ever conceived, and an overwhelming sense of ‘Are we there yet?’ There isn’t really another game based in the DBZ universe quite like this one, yet I cannot ignore how the devs failed miserably to make open-world gameplay more interesting.

Sorry folks, while DBZ Kakarot can certainly lay claim to a fairly solid foundation, I wish I had better news for you. It feels like a superior, more fleshed out Dragon Ball Z game constantly threatens to conquer the bland moments, but the experience just doesn’t get there. In December 2020 when the inevitable top ten lists come out, I’d bet most content creators are probably going to say “Oh right, I actually forgot about this game!”. Get it on sale if you must.

Good visuals

Engaging boss fights

Loyal to the DBZ narrative

Battle cut scenes

Bland side quests

Very repetetive

Too much collecting

Open-world cut scenes

Tutorial screen overload

Too much talking!

PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an XBox One controller

The post Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review appeared first on DSOGaming.

Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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thomasroach · 5 years

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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

The post Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review, we’ll take an in-depth look at the latest kickstarted game by Castlevania’s lead creator. “I know they are wrong!” Proudly proclaims Koji Igarashi in a video four years ago, speaking in his Kickstarter video for his new project Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Defiantly, he assured that he would create another Castlevania-style game worthy of his legacy. More enemies, more items, more bosses! Did he succeed? Is this one of the few true Kickstarter success stories? Or have we been left crying like vampires on sabbath night?

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review

Genre: Metroidvania Developed by: ArtPlay Published by: 505 Games Release date: June 18th, 2019 Platforms: PC (Reviewed), XBox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch Website: https://505games.com/games/bloodstained/

Game Features

Spiritual successor to Castlevania made by Koji Igarashi

Revival of 2D Igavania RPG in a dark gothic fantasy setting

Deep, rich single player narrative adventure

13 FREE DLCS! Some available at launch, others as post-launch updates.

Tons of enemies, bosses and secrets to conquer

Multiple playable characters

Bloodstained Review: Story and Setting

As the Industrial Revolution proceeds, people begin to move away from spirituality and towards science. This is not good for the Alchemist’s Guild, who see their patronage shrink. Panicking over the loss of so much power and desperate to survive, they summon a demon filled castle to ‘prove’ that people need them. The people of the world have a few issues with this, and after the Exorcists drive back the demons at horrible cost the Alchemist’s Guild is disbanded. 10 years later, the castle has returned with the demons. This lovely and cheerful tale serves as the backdrop for the adventure of Miriam as she tries to keep her promise to her childhood friend Gebel and figure out the secrets of the castle.

This is a Castlevania game through and through, in mechanics and in story. The only way this game could be more Castlevania is if Konami allowed ArtPlay to call the game Castlevania. This means that the setting is, frankly, nuts. Most of the castle doesn’t make a damn bit of sense, with things getting crazy and more video-gamey as things progress. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Castlevania games have never been what you would call grounded and it would have been very strange if Bloodstained suddenly decided to follow logic. You have waterways, desert caves full of sand, lava caves and oriental gardens all in the basement of this castle. The castle parts themselves aren’t boring either with a wide range of backgrounds and styles clearly marking which section of the castle you are in.

Monsters follow a similar pattern. There are of course some monsters that seem right at home in a haunted demon-infested castle such as bats, ghosts, and skeletons. Then you have the giant puppy head on a chain that tries to eat you. Or the heavy-metal guitarist that spews purple flames at you if you get to close. They have a decent rift going too as they try to melt your face. Logical? Consistent? Not even slightly. But then again, that’s not what a Castlevania game is about and as I said earlier, Bloodstained is Castlevania in all but name.

Which, unfortunately, leads us to the first weak point of the game. The story itself is nothing to fawn over. So many times during this game I was able to say “Yep, saw that coming a mile away” with the occasional “Of course this character is misunderstood”. Only at one point did the story actually rise above mediocre, where the story beat and the mechanics of the game perfectly meshed together in a way that made me say “Wow, that is really neat!”. It’s not a bad story by any measure and it certainly didn’t subtract from the game, but the story didn’t really add anything to it either. If you buy this game for the story though, chances are you’ll be disappointed.

Bloodstained Review: Gameplay

Gameplay is the core of any Metroidvania game, as story has never been a strong point for the genre. I’d go so far as to say the story and dialog in Symphony of the Night is laughably bad, though in a good campy way. The gameplay though, the gameplay is what keeps us fans of this genre coming back time and time again. Bloodstained fully delivers on that gameplay, including parts that I really wish it hadn’t delivered on. Before we get into details, let’s talk some technical stuff first. On PC, this game has minor problems that, while not huge, are there and need patching. Now I didn’t keep an official tally, but I suffered around 5 crashes/freezes during my play through. It got to the point where I would travel a couple rooms out of my to hit a save point just in case. Most of my crashes happened on room transitions which is a fairly critical issue as I’ll discuss in a moment, but one time I froze just looking at the warp map! Not cool Iggy, not cool at all. There are also the occasional missing words in dialog, and the infrequent VO/dialog mismatch as well. Nothing major and nothing that ever interfered with the game, but it is there.

Combat & Weapon Variety

Combat in Bloodstained is ye-old standard affair: press a button, and swing in front of you. That’s it. No attacking up or at a diagonal unless you use magic. You can crouch and attack at a downward diagonal, but with few exceptions you never need to do this. Oh, and you can attack while you’re in the air. Now at first glance this doesn’t seem like a great system, but there’s a beauty to the simplicity of the design. Choosing a direction to attack and then attacking is only a very small part of the equation. Every weapon class has a different attack animation. Great swords have an overhead arc and are slow while katanas swing straight out and are faster. Further complicating things are enemy movement speeds and patterns. Great swords are good for hitting things at range or slightly overhead, but your timing has to be perfect to hit bats and other fast-flying monsters. Stomping attacks with boots are great for rapidly and safely crushing large slow enemies, but only if they don’t have an overhead attack. For the most part i never wished that I could attack up or at angles, with one exception: The guns.

I will be frank. I feel the guns are a pointless and useless addition to the game. They shoot slow and don’t do a lot of damage unless you have ammo. You can only carry so much ammo and it can be a real drain on your resources. Even with the ammo damage boost though they always felt really weak to me. Perhaps I’m just not using them correct, but I probably used guns for a total of 30 minutes out of the 18 hours I’ve put in so far. I might have been more inclined to use the guns if I could aim them, but just like every other weapon they can only shoot straight. Only certain spells can be aimed.

Magic & Grinding

Speaking of spells, we come to one of the major weak points this game inherited from its pedigree – grinding. Almost every enemy can drop a shard when killed. These shards give you a variety of abilities, from passive buffs to rays of doom to summoning a chair to sit in. No, I’m not joking. You can get a shard that allows you to summon a chair to sit in. Now while you have some of questionable usefulness like the chair summon (that seems to recover MP at higher levels), they’re all fun to use. Now here’s the rub – the more shards you have, the more powerful the effect gets up to 9 shards held. The only way to get shards is to kill monsters. Over. And Over. And OVER. Traditionally the best way to do this is to find a room that has a decent concentration of the monster you’re farming, kill them, and then leave and instantly return to the room. Again and again and again and you get the idea. Oh and remember earlier when I was talking about how I was getting infrequent crashes on room transitions? Ya, that doesn’t help the process. Now you don’t have to do this. There is another upgrade path for the shards, and I beat the game only having 1-2 copies of the shards I had equipped. But if you want to max out your power, or get every shard in the game, brace yourself. That way lies grind.

Crafting

There is also a crafting system in the game. As you kill monsters and collect treasure chests, you will get materials. Chests always have the same materials and the blue ones restock when you return to base which always gives you a source of materials. Might even be worth it to mark on the minimap (yes you can do that and yes it is awesome) the location of all blue treasure chests you find. Some crafting resources can only found on monsters though, which means yet more grinding. This is especially true if you want to try and cook and eat all the foods for the permabuffs they provide. While it can be a bit of a pain at times, you definitely want to check in to see what new recipes have unlocked when you get a new book. Crafting new weapons and armor can be a valuable upgrade source for your character.

Secrets and Exploration

Exploration is of course another major component of Metroidvanias, and this is one of the few areas where I feel Bloodstained has added to the genre. First of all, the map is freaking huge and filled with secrets. 100% this game is going to take some serious dedication with regards to exploring this place. Thankfully there are some good quality of life improvements here, otherwise the size of the castle would work against the game. First is the ease of movement. Right from the start you get access to waystones, a cheap instant recall consumable. As far as I can tell, the only time you can’t use these things is in a boss fight. I probably went through 20 of these things. There’s also a decent network of warp points throughout the map and it swiftly became a priority of mine to find the warp point whenever I entered a new area.

Some other features that prevent exploration from becoming tedious are personal map markers, quest markers, and chest markers. At any time you can press a button (the red B on my Logitech) with the minimap open to place a marker, and press the button again to remove it. This allows you to mark anything you wish, though it doesn’t allow you to enter in notes. One of your quest giving NPCs will ask you to kill X of Y. Once you accept the quest, you’ll get a little green scroll icon on your map to show which rooms contains monsters you need. Finally when you encounter a chest for the first time, a marker will be placed on the map until you open it. I cannot begin to express how much suffering this feature saved me, as early on in the game you’ll walk past many chests you can’t reach and have to come back to.

Boss Fights

Of course we can’t talk about gameplay and mechanics without talking about bosses. They are all well designed and with one exception, they all play out very differently. Some of them even have a cool little movement gimmick to them, which I won’t spoil here. Even the exception are understandable, since it’s literally the same boss each time, just upgraded on the second round. Most bosses I was able to beat on the first try, with none of them taking more than 5 tries. The exception to this are two of the optional bosses I found. Let’s just say it didn’t end well for me and I decided to beat the game, write this review, then come back to them. Oh and buy 99 pizzas and cheese the heck out of the fights.

Multiple Endings

Sadly my closeout on the mechanics is not going to be a good one. Many of Igarashi’s games suffer from the same problem: Stupidly concealed requirements for endings. I’m not talking about secret endings here, I’m talking about having the basic, satisfying ending hidden behind poorly or not at all explained requirements. For example in Symphony of the Night you had to have a specific familiar equipped when you entered a room, or you couldn’t get the item you needed to reach half the game. In Harmony of Dissonance if you didn’t have two specific rings that don’t give you good combat stats equipped for a boss fight, you don’t get the good ending. So on, so forth, this is a pattern that is repeated across many of his games including Bloodstained. Have no fear, there’s no spoilers here, but I had to hit the internet three times to get unstuck towards the end of the game. One of those times I would have solved on my own, one I might have solved on my own, but the third? Nope. Very unlikely that I would have solved that one. There’s having trust in your player’s intelligence, then there’s assuming they think exactly like you do. I am in fact sufficiently steamed over one of these items I plan on writing a separate article about it, but there is nothing more I can say here without spoiling things.

Bloodstained Review: Audio and Visual

It is very rare that I will put my foot down and say something is objectively beautiful, but gosh darn it this game is objectively beautiful. Within the style of a 2D game, I legitimately don’t have anything negative to say here unless I dig deep in the barrel of nit-picks. For example: If you choose a long-hair style for Meriam, her hair acts more like a spazzy scarf that it does hair. Or, hmm, let’s see, oh I got it! It’s a bit confusing at first what all the green scroll icons are for on the mini-map. That took me a bit to figure out they were showing me the rooms where my quest targets were. Nit-picks aside, the visuals are just about perfect here. The background and foreground are both beautiful and distinct, the monsters are fun to see, and the bosses are epic.

Sound also is incredible. In fact I’m listening to the OST as I write this review. Every castle section has it’s own distinct theme in addition to having a distinct look. Give me a little more time with the game, and I’d be able to tell you what general area of the castle I’m in without looking at the screen. Even the SFX is awesome. Weapon swings, hitting the enemies, enemy death cries, it’s all good. There are some silly sounds, like the death “Oooooh!” from some of the large humanoid enemies. Nearly giggle inducing at times. Also the Toy Shoe SFX is a bit much. It was a good weapon when I got it but oh, that sound effect.

Bloodstained Review: Replayability

With all of the additional game modes Bloodstained has, I have to say this game has a lot of potential for replay. First up we have New Game+. Now I’ve only had time to poke at this mode, but it does seem to alter enemy placement. I can’t tell if it changed the enemy stats or not. If it did I’m still so overpowered for the first area that everything is dying in one hit. Given the scaling in the original game I probably wouldn’t be able to tell until several areas in. Still it’s nice to have, and it even shows you in the minimap where you went in the previous game which I thought was a nice touch. Completing the game on Normal also unlocks Hard and Nightmare difficulty settings, as well as speedrun mode which has built in per-room saves. Boss Rush is another mode you can enjoy, and it has rewards for your normal game as well making it worth while to at least check it out. All in all I don’t foresee that I’ll stop playing this game anytime soon.

Bloodstained Review: Pricepoint

Depending on how skilled you are, a basic run-through of this game is going to take you about 15 hours. Really depends on how hard you get stuck/get lost in the latter portion of the game. If that is all that I was going to do, if I was going to put the game down right now because I beat it, I would still consider this a good buy. Currently on sale for $36 with a regular price tag of $40 on the PC, I consider this to be reasonable. While I’ve gotten more hours out of less money, I had a very enjoyable 15 hours with this game. Factor in the New Game +, Boss Rush, and Speed Run modes that are the game right now and you’ve got one heck of a good purchase here. Further factor in that if they deliver on just half of the promised post-launch features I wouldn’t have any problems recommending this game at $60. There is some serious content for your dollar here. If you have even a slight interest in this style of game it is well worth your money.

Bloodstained Review: Final Thoughts

Bloodstained is Castlevania, with all of its beauty and all of its flaws. While some of the flaws do run deep in my opinion, I still greatly enjoyed the game. Flawless execution on aesthetic, incredible sound, levels that are fun to navigate and monsters that are more fun to kill, this game is a love letter to Koji Igarashi’s previous works. However, that is all that it is, though fortunately all that it needed to be. Bloodstained has done nothing to push the genre of Metroidvanias down new paths, but it is a shinning example of what they can be. And with that, I suppose I should end this review with a paraphrase of a very common quote: “What is a review? A miserable pile of numbers! Have at you!”

The post Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night appeared first on Fextralife.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

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orbemnews · 3 years

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thomasroach · 5 years

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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

The post Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night appeared first on Fextralife.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review

Game Features

Spiritual successor to Castlevania made by Koji Igarashi

Revival of 2D Igavania RPG in a dark gothic fantasy setting

Deep, rich single player narrative adventure

13 FREE DLCS! Some available at launch, others as post-launch updates.

Tons of enemies, bosses and secrets to conquer

Multiple playable characters

Bloodstained Review: Story and Setting

Bloodstained Review: Gameplay

Combat & Weapon Variety

Magic & Grinding

Crafting

Secrets and Exploration

Boss Fights

Multiple Endings

Bloodstained Review: Audio and Visual

Bloodstained Review: Replayability

Bloodstained Review: Pricepoint

Bloodstained Review: Final Thoughts

The post Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night appeared first on Fextralife.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

0 notes

thomasroach · 5 years

Text

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

The post Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night appeared first on Fextralife.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review

Game Features

Spiritual successor to Castlevania made by Koji Igarashi

Revival of 2D Igavania RPG in a dark gothic fantasy setting

Deep, rich single player narrative adventure

13 FREE DLCS! Some available at launch, others as post-launch updates.

Tons of enemies, bosses and secrets to conquer

Multiple playable characters

Bloodstained Review: Story and Setting

Bloodstained Review: Gameplay

Combat & Weapon Variety

Magic & Grinding

Crafting

Secrets and Exploration

Boss Fights

Multiple Endings

Bloodstained Review: Audio and Visual

Bloodstained Review: Replayability

Bloodstained Review: Pricepoint

Bloodstained Review: Final Thoughts

The post Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night appeared first on Fextralife.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

0 notes