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under-lore · 9 months

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The absolute state of Undercards

This isn't the kind of post i usually make, but well, theorists can make call out posts too. And regarding this topic, it seems that no one else is going to do it if i don't so...

I need to talk about Undercards. And particularly what's been going on behind the scenes in this fangame & its community and that it seems no one wants to speak up about. I've been thinking of doing this for a while and at this point i think i should just go ahead and explain it.

Okay, before we get into the controversy, i'll present the game a little bit for those who haven't heard of it. (And for those who don't care about this part, just scroll down a little bit until the next bold text.)

Undercards is an online multiplayer Undertale/Deltarune fangame which is basically just Yu-gi-oh or Hearthstone, except that cards, spells and such are all Undertale & Deltarune themed. It was popularised a few years ago mostly by youtuber Merg.

The gameplay looks something like this :

This game has a bit of a Gacha side, but it is entirely possible for any new FTP player to climb the ranks quite quickly or to obtain anything a P2W player could obtain somewhat easily, making it not unfair in that regard.

The game has an entertaining mastery curve and progress in ranked leagues (the main part of the game) is primarly decided by improvements in one's strategy regarding synergy of your deck, artifacts & soul, which are all to be chosen by the player to get the best chance at victory.

So, this all sounds like a pretty neat fangame, doesn't it ? So what's wrong ? What is the point of this post about ?

The issues

Whilst the game itself can indeed be quite fun, there exists a very serious problem regarding its community, and particularly its moderation team which sabotages its own game.

I'll start with some of the more minor issues before moving on to more important ones. I will also mention that i will not cover personal experiences (as much as i want to) and rather focus on larger trends to avoid biases or fallacious generalisations of individual cases.

The balance bias

The game has a very severe balance issue, which is nearly entirely caused by the moderators serving their own interests over that of the game.

Because here is the thing :

Many of the moderators (and by that i mean, the ones who's opinions seriously count for the balancing, really) are also the game's top players.

This game not only has greater rewards for achieving higher ranks every month, but even beyond the highest rank, it also has a live public leaderboard of the top players of each month.

However, if you check the monthly rankings of the game in any given season, the top spots are practically entirely monopolised by the moderators and by the alternative accounts of the moderators. (Some have had up to 5 accounts at once)

In other words, those who decide which cards should be buffed or nerfed are also the same people who will benefit or suffer from rebalancing their own cards, or know what tiny change to make to a card to suddenly make it very valuable in their specific decks.

This leads to some pretty silly situations, such as moderators buffing cards that genuinely deserved to be nerfed to secure their own interests. Or, on the other side of the issue, there are regularly cases where 9 out of the top 10 players all use the same clearly overpowered card in all of their decks, but the moderators will continue to deny that the card needs to be nerfed, because they do not want to have to nerf their own decks.

These things are all still happening, and they have been for years.

Because, well, they are the moderators, they have the authority and some of them have been here for up to 7 years, who is going to monitor them ?

After all, moderators are the law, they can do no wrong, right ?

Moderator incompetence and toxicity.

See, the team isn't just biased, they are also frankly incompetent at handling their own game in a facepalm-inducing manner.

For instance, remember how the main entertaining thing about this game was the strategy aspect of how to select your cards, artifacts and soul in order to get the best possible deck you can create and use it to make progress ?

Well, the game also has a spectating function. Which isn't a bad idea at all in itself. But it does have some major issues, like deck copying.

It is extremely easy for anyone to spectate the games of a very high rated player, and simply note down all the cards they play until you have their whole deck figured out. After this, you can easily copy it, and just play with this stronger person's deck and rank up that way, skipping what is quite literally the main interest of Undercards.

Not only does this ruin a large portion of the point of the game for the person that does it, but the more people do it, the more everyone everywhere starts running around using copies of the same few decks and making the game incredibly blend for everyone else overall as the thousands of possible way to make interesting decks slowly get reduced to no more than a dozen considered "viable" possible decks as you climb up the ranks.

...So what did the Undercards team do about this ?

...They created a hub menu where you can publish and downloads decks.

Yes, this is completely counter-productive.

Yes, this means that anyone can publish any deck for any player to find and use, they don't even need to copy the deck, it does that for them automatically.

Yes, this means that someone else can spectate your games, note down your deck, and publish it online for everyone to see, copy, or specifically prepare counters for. And they do.

Not only has the team not fixed those issues, but they have added features to make things more convenient for the perpetrators. They are actively encouraging people to be copycats and anti-fairplay, severely damaging their game's main strength on the way.

Oh, talking about stalking people and anti-fairplay...

The spectate feature has another massive problem : Sniping.

See, a game in Undercards lasts around 5 minutes & involves just two players, and there is rarely more than a couple dozen games going on at the same time. The game also has a very large matchmaking pool, meaning that you can pretty easily be paired against somebody considerably higher rated than yourself.

What this all means is that, by spectating somebody and then entering the playing queue right after this person's game ends, it is very easy to purposely stalk somebody in order to have a match against this particular person.

So, not only can someone stalk you and post your decks and/or strategies online, but anyone even much lower rated than you can look at it, build a counter deck that exists specifically to crush your particular deck, and then stalk you to repeatedly beat you and leech off your rank points.

And there is absolutely nothing that you can do about this.

The only solution is to log off and come back online when the sniper won't be present, or stalk the person back yourself to make sure you only launch games when you know they are already playing and can't be waiting for you, which is quite tiring.

Okay, well what did the team so about that one, then ? Surely even they wouldn't like the idea of being sniped, right ?

Heh... Well, its a bit trickier.

Officially, the practice is not allowed and a couple of them are actually against it. But in practice, most of them actually do not care, for the simple reason that part of them are guilty of doing such things themselves, and simply only take action when someones tries to do it back against them.

In fact, while i actually do not actually have proof for that one, i do also suspect that at least part of the moderators who have several accounts decide on which account they're going to play at a given time by checking which other players are online right now, and picking a deck/account accordingly for easier wins.

Their crappy behavior does not stop at only in-game things, though.

For instance, one person brought up to me that members of the staff have called his religion "garbage". Which needless to say, is extremely inappropriate and disrespectful.

Beyond being scummy, the team also just doesn't know how to handle their player base in general. For example, not so long ago, they shot themselves in the foot by creating two new ranks despite the fact that their player base was already too low to fill up the many ranks they already had. This means stretching up the rank differences between the players, which makes rank gain/loss disproportionate compared to one's actual current level and renders progression even more frustrating for medium level players, as well as generalising higher differences between players for matchmaking, which thus makes all the previously mentioned problems like sniping even worse. (All of that just to make things feel a bit more comfortable for those at the very top like the mods, who won't have to match with lower rated players as much.)

There could still be a couple more things for me to say, but i think the picture is already fairly clear. The team is purposely throwing the quality of their own game under the bus for little more reason than to stroke their ego by seeing their own names at the top of their leaderboards and overall just don't make very good decisions for their game even outside of all that.

Okay, but that was a whole lot of speaking, now how about i give an actual direct example of what the situation is currently like ?

Consider the existence of a user named "Sktima".

Skitma plays the game every day, but practically only ever uses the public chat to either :

Trash talk his opponents either during a game or after a loss.

Complain about the game's RNG, calling it "rigged" or "scripted".

Condescendingly mock and talk down on players rated below 2200 ELO (that is, over 98% of players) for being bad at the game.

If ever called out on this behavior, Sktima will infantilise the whistleblower, calling them a "whining little kid" or similar term before painting them as the bad guy instead, and attempting to bully them into leaving the chat. (and holding grudges against them later on, too.)

All the while, of course, being arrogantly mocking and acting like he considers himself as superior to others.

The question is : How long do you think it took for this player to be banned ?

I encourage you to think about this for a second, before continuing to read.

...

...Okay, have you made your guess yet ?

Well, it was a trick question..

Sktima was never banned at all, for the very simple reason that Sktima is a part of the moderation team.

He even has a YT, too. And it kinda speaks for itself, honestly.

For those interested, here are a couple extracts from a conversation he had in the comments with somebody pointing out that with the size of that community, issues like sniping or hand peeking (another big problem i didn't bring up caused by another bad feature that allows you to directly see the opponent's hand with another tab via the in-game friend option) were bound to happen with the way the mod team handled some features.

Be warned, a good amount of rudeness as well as lying & manipulating to try and turn the situation backwards...

Im not going to analyse or detail more any of that nor point out some of the blatant irony in this conversation, but what i will bring up is that throughout all this, they've made their stance rather clear :

None of this is the fault of the moderator team, they consider that only the player base itself is to blame for the current state of the game, not them.

The underground status.

The thing is, a lot of players aren't oblivious to this, but won't speak a word when staff is present.

In just a couple weeks for instance, at least three separate users have admitted in the chats they thought Sktima was insufferable, including one which claimed he was "the most toxic person on the site." But all this was only at low activity times when the team members were offline.

This was even more obvious on discord, where the only results you could find when searching for "Undercards" in the history of other Undertale/Deltarune related discord servers were people complaining about how toxic the Undercards staff was.

People frequently complain about a lot of the previously mentioned gameplay issues like sniping, but it seems nobody dares to speak up about the actual responsibles, likely due to their position of power and because they consider it as a fait accompli.

Undercards is a great game with has the potential to be very fun, but it and its community are practically being held hostage by the game's staff, and yet it seems the community has just given up on itself and mostly accepted this unfair status quo. This kind of thing shouldn't be allowed to continue.

#undertale #deltarune #meta #undercards

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tarotmundomonde · 1 year

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Your current karma general reading

First, I want to thank @lilstargazing for suggesting this topic to me. It wasn't one I had thought of but found it very interesting and so here we are!

pick a number 1-5 OR pick a colour: 1-blue 2-red 3-purple 4-yellow 5-green Hope you enjoy! And next will be "Your current karma in romantic love reading"!

1.Welcome to pile number 1. What comes to your current karma, a lot is about communication and the intellectual. Very strong throat chakra and sacral chakra activation, possibly healing those chakras or rebalancing those chakras could be needed. First of all, there could be some hidden motivations surrounding you. There is a strong focus on you claiming your independence and you being the real you. To be your authentic self, to express yourself. You could experience a lot of worry, but you need to overcome that. It seems you are called to do some shadow work, because you are meant to grow. Be mindful of what you feed your mind, the more you focus on the positive, the more the positive will expand. And a part of the shadow work is to become aware of your own hidden motives and what it is you are longing for. And then to find your north star, to find your inner light, to find yourself. It looks like also you are dealing with hunger. For example, you could have a bigger appetite, because you long for more in life or maybe you simply need to eat more healthily. It looks like you are also meant to take a step back, trust and start planning and strategizing. Whatever that would be about, maybe just about daily routines, maybe school or work. It does look like there is a very stong focus on strategizing. And on foreshadowing, predicting what's going to be next, or what's going to be someone else's next move. Also, what's simply the best strategy for you, for example at work or learning and study strategy. Indeed, it's a lot about clarity and clearing things, making space. Maybe literally you need to do some cleaning. And also to get organized, to get things organized, to put things in order and in the right places. Like making things easy for you to find them. There is also focus on service and on kindred partnerships. You are called to tap into the energy of grace and peace and blessings. And you seem to be learning about using power with wisdom. So you are possibly taught lessons about what is to be in your power and what is healthy. And also, it looks like a part of your current karma is that some change is coming or going on, transformation and joyous opportunities. Now, one more thing that came through for this pile is also celebrity. Like said before about being you, there is a reference about shining like a celebrity, to be the star you were born to be. To walk your path. Perhaps it's time for you to confront your fears of exposure, of being seen and noticed. To become a bit more bold and just be you and shine your own light. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

2.Welcome to pile number 2. What comes to your current karma, there is a very strong presence of divine protection in your life at this time. There is also a great possibility that you could be into the supernatural at this time. You have a very strong lesson about denial and acceptance going on for you right now. You are definitely going through so many transformations at this time, so it's inevitable that you are experiencing some storms as well. It's life and it's also about stepping into life and to not be afraid of changes. Your life seems to be speeding up somehow. You are experiencing the phoenix effect in so many ways and on so many levels at this time. It seems like life could feel like quite the mystery to you at this time. Having to experience deep emotions and learning not to worry too much and learning to trust life. And learning how to find peace and how to create peace and how to be in peaceful energy. Learning to be grateful about peace, too. Peace is a huge theme for you right now. And then the phoenix effect as rising from the ashes aka taking your power back. To kinda rediscover yourself and to grow into a stronger you. Another big theme for you at this time is discovery and learning great lessons. Don't worry, you have spirit guides watching over you. For some of you, now is a time of studies. Maybe you are a student and so it seems that your studies are currently a big part of your current karma. You could feel drawn to libraries or bookstores or to school buildings or perhaps just generally to some specific types of architecture styles as well. Creativity and creation is a big theme as well. Creative thinking and creative solutions. Your current karma involves working harder and growing smarter. It's time for you to find new ways of solving problems. Whether it's just about some small tasks or situations. There is also a huge milestone for you in the cards. And one more thing is that you are learning that you'll always have what you need or find what you need. So you are taught lessons about gratitude, of assistance and that you have all you need. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

3. Welcome to pile number 3. What comes to your current karma, it's like you've been disconnected from your spirit and so you are asked to reconnect with your spirit, with your higher self. There is a sense of much good impending, but delayed currently, because you need first space for you to reconnect with the divine. Third-eye activation came through for you, maybe you need to do some third-eye chakra cleansing and rebalancing. But at this time it is activated, so you could notice yourself having increased intuition and clear seeing and visions. You seem to also be dealing with some sort of power struggles. So a part of your current karma is to take your power back, step back into your power and the right use of power. So you are called to work on having healthy boundaries and also honesty came through for you. And also you are called to see the royal you, to work on your self-esteem and you are going through a time of self-esteem healing. One big theme that came through for you as well is patience and stillness. It's not the right time yet, so use this opportunity to also focus on resting and taking it easy. You might not fully realize it, but you are taking steps forward and moving forward, even if it doesn't seem so at this time. You do seem to have some collaboration going on or coming in. Passion also came through. So there is a focus on your passions like hobbies. Also, sacral chakra healing and rebalancing. One absolute big theme for you is the divine presence. You might be struggling with faith issues at this time, but it's all about finding faith and having faith. You have very strong divine protection present at this time. It seems to be very important that you know that. Now on a lighter side, you are called to become a magnet for love, light and joy. It really wants to enter your life, you are called to enter that energy space. There are magical moments awaiting you, miracles. And true love. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

4.Welcome to pile number 4. This pile has heavy student vibes to it. It's very clear that this is a student pile. Your current karma is so clearly all about student life. For example it's pretty clear that you cannot advance in big steps, but instead you are required patience and to build little by little and in breaks. For example you have to focus on one semester at a time, on one exam period at a time. So a strong part of your current karma is studying and teachers and choices and consequences and creation and creativity and wisdom. In the end, this is all teaching you to walk your path and to trust you have the needed inner wisdom reguarding your student life and courage. And a part of you growing wiser is of course possible regrets, like the regret that you didn't study enough during the exam week. Things like that. And then endings. It's so much about preparations, plans, planning and routines. About knowing the outcomes you seek and what you are trying to manifest. It's a lot about using your mind and the intellectual, knowing the best learning methods for yourself and to tend to the small things, to pay attention to details. A lot of mental hard work. It seems a part of your current karma is to find and recognize your gifts and to not settle for less. And you seem to be dealing with so much new information, which is so typical for students. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

5.Welcome to pile number 5. If you chose this pile, it seems you have a bit of everything going on at the moment. So what comes to your current karma, one thing is home. This could be about renovation or relocation or just home life in general. A part of your current karma is also status quo and obstacles. And a part of it is assistance and control. So it seems you also need to learn how to accept help from others. You seem to also need to focus more on your nourishment. It's not just about food, but also about what you consume online and through all media, what you feed yourself energetically, etc. You are taught about prioritizing self-care. And about judgment. It seems you are experiencing some level of enlightment at this time. Your wisdom is growing and you are starting to see some things more clearly. There is also a focus on increasing your knowledge, be it through school or taking classes perhaps. A very strong focus on relationships, including friends and colleagues. It's really about learning that you are not alone. There is a sense that you have your own team. A massive energy of unconditional and all-encompassing love being present in your life at this time, it's time for you to tap into it and to learn to feel such love with no judgment. You are learning about acceptance and serenity. And you are learning about life, about experiencing life, about living life. That life is about everything. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

#tarot #tarot reading #pick a card reading #pac reading #pick a pile #daily tarot

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hero-israel · 8 months

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The antizionist crowd loves to shift goalposts, so if they're pressed hard enough on where Jews are supposed to go or Jewish ties to the land, they'll just move to the next talking point.

If Jews are allowed to exist in Palestine, for them, they must have "checks and balances" placed against them. I 100% predict discourse talking about how Jews who remain enfranchised cannot be allowed to vote back in the old "Apartheid" system.

Because it will be very difficult to get the numbers of Palestinian refugees around the world to outnumber Jews, and very difficult to get all the Palestinians to vote for the same things, especially against a Jewish voting bloc that's still half or almost half of the country and only cares about preserving their rights. Preserving Jewish rights would be seen as Apartheid by leftists so that's what we're dealing with.

Logically, you either have to expel a certain number of Jews, socially engineer a mass immigration program for Palestinians, when hundreds of thousands of them live in the Americas quite comfortably and probably wouldn't care enough to go, wait decades for the hope that existing Arabs outbreed Jews, or disenfranchise Jews. It's obvious what their first choice is, but their second choice is clear as well.

Say everything goes their way, and peacefully. Say the new Palestinian government, purged of most Jewish influence, starts slowly but surely chipping away at Jewish sovereignty and dignity, which it will eventually. Leftist will cheer all the way and gaslight Jews pointing out the warning signs that dhimmitude is returning, and any organized effort on the part of Palestinian Jews to vote and protest will be seen as anti Arab racism.

Say Jews still have political power in Palestine, it will still be seen as Apartheid because "too many Jews" remain in important government, military, financial, and cultural institutional positions, "too many Jews" vote, and too frequently. They have all the money and power and privileges, don't you know, and they have a vested interest in saying everyone has equal rights but continue to covertly oppress the Palestinians. They will call this Palestine washing or one state washing. Mark my words.

If by some miracle an antizionist can be forced to admit that Jews should not, for moral and practical reasons, be cleansed from the land, I still wholeheartedly believe there's no real solution where they'll be satisfied, because if Jews must remain on the land, then they must be given rights too, and that's what pisses off the antizionists. They want Jews dead or subjugated or just gone so no one has to think about them.

The amount of social engineering their goals call for is neither real-world realistic nor morally tolerable. Also intolerable is the very clearly implied threat of mass violence to back up that attempted "rebalancing". Their approach would quickly devolve into a 1948-style street-by-street civil war with strong racial / religious elements. In one of his final honest comments before he went full Grayzone, Peter Beinart said that a 1SS would probably turn Israel into Lebanon.

On occasion I have attempted to engage anti-Zionists about what the political reality for post-Israeli Jews would be. They were never willing to acknowledge the risks involved or to set out risk-minimization strategies. It's all vindictive, punitive, use-the-Delorean-to-write-a-new-timeline fantasy.

A politics of revenge will not build a free, fair society. You can bet that in the alternate timeline of their 1SS, 30 years later they would still be calling the Jews "former apartheid supporters" or "apartheid beneficiaries", and urging punishments accordingly.

#Israel #Palestine #anti-Zionism

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doggendoodle · 8 months

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I keep seeing the funny Corporate Clash cogs from you so I looked into it. How’s it compare with Rewritten? I doooon’t really wanna play both (they’re gonna scratch the same sorta itch) and I’m wondering which you prefer, pros/cons, etc

Like? I’m enjoying the nostalgic vibe of Rewritten being more or less the same as I remembered, down to the dated graphics, but ngl I’m kinda yearning for QoL changes. There’s a loooooot of archaic ideas in Rewritten for the sake of faithfulness that my 🌸 Delicate 2023 Constitution 🌸 chafes against

Well as an aside before I start Clash-shilling, it should be noted that there's currently more QoL updates in the works for Rewritten, with adjustments to parts of the late-game and possibly more I don't know about. So that might be worth waiting for, or at least keeping an eye on.

But more to the point, yeah, I very much enjoy Corporate Clash more than Rewritten. They still share a lot of the same DNA, both being Toontown and all (plenty of grind, a lot of the same areas and NPCs, etc), but Clash is, like, the Xenoblade 2 to Rewritten's Xenoblade Definitive Edition. As for pros and cons of switching to Clash, that's under the read more.

Con: community is a lot more niche outside of Tumblr.

Most people who play Toontown nowadays play on Rewritten, in no small part because it's literally the game that originated the term "rewritten" for fan-run private servers of shuttered MMOs. You're a Zero Escape fan, so you get it - small but very passionate fandom that occasionally catches a few passersby for a little.

Pro: a ton of quality of life improvements.

Much larger jellybean jars and banks, and you can get jellybeans from every activity, even fighting Cogs. Once you unlock a third Gag track you get the ability to refund and switch tracks on the fly for free, and you keep all the Gag XP you had in the track whe you switch back. You can save up to 20 Outfits from your Shtickerbook, too, for quick changes.

Neutral: game is a lot more complex and gets a lot harder in the endgame, but has a lot more strategic depth.

Owing to the additions of Manager Cogs, a new level of Gags, the entirely new Zap Gag, higher level Cogs, revamped bosses, cooldowns for every boss reward, and every Gag working at least a little differently than in TTO/TTR, there's a lot to learn and re-learn.

The Clash Wiki has strategies listed for every boss, and the addition of groups last year makes it possible to co-ordinate Gag choices before entering bosses - and you'll need that co-ordination, especially for the harder Kudos manager boss fights.

Neutral: the progression system is completely overhauled.

Instead of doing random Toontasks in each playground to build up your Gag track with a few full task chains for Gag pouch, jellybean jar, Gag and Laff upgrades, there's a more traditional level and experience point system that fills up as you complete tasks and fight Cogs, and leveling up is tied directly to progression. Side activities like Fishing and Golfing have their own, smaller experience gauges, and you still earn Laff by filling them.

Neutral: tied to the above, the way tasks work is also completely redone.

Now you have one Toontask that is perpetually dedicated to the core story until you reach the (current) end, with every task in that story being custom-made rather than random. You visit the playgrounds in the same order as in TTO/TTR, with the additions of an entirely new medieval-themed playground and a massively-overhauled Acorn Acres along the way, and the locations of the Cog HQs are moved around so that you visit and complete each one as part of your first visit to the playground (they're also rebalanced to account for the different levels you take them on at).

Each playground also has a few Sidetasks, which are optional but reward you with things like Nametags, clothes, and teleport access to each playground - if you only do one Sidetask from each playground, make sure it's the one that gets you teleport access. You can see what the reward for each Sidetask is on the relevant page in the Shtickerbook, as well as where you have to go to start it.

And, once you complete the story in a playground, you unlock the Kudos Board for that playground, which takes the place of Just for Fun tasks while also doubling as the method by which you unlock each playground's Kudos Manager boss fight.

Con: the shopkeeps are jerks.

A lot of the shopkeepers you interact with as part of tasks are rude. Like, really rude, for no good reason. Not "deliberately stop playing to avoid helping them" rude, but it's definitely A Choice.

Pro AND Con: the Cogs get a lot of love. Like, a disproportionate amount.

As you've probably gleaned by how much art of the Cogs I reblog compared to the Toons, one of Corporate Clash's selling points is how much it focuses on bringing the Cogs closer to the Toons thematically. Whereas in the original Toontown Online they were deliberately more serious and lifeless to emphasize their robotic nature, Corporate Clash makes them closer to, like, Captain Planet-style cartoon capitalists, as well as giving Cogs as a species a lot more personality and backstory as a whole.

In most respects this is fantastic - it makes the gameplay experience a lot more fun, and it allows the Clash team to really flex their creative chops while expanding on TTO. However, the downside is that the Cogs sometimes get a lot more focus than the Toons do. This is something they're aware of and actively curb whenever it rears its head, though. On the whole this is definitely more of a pro than a con.

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So, on the whole, Clash is quite a lot different from Rewritten, despite being its younger sibling. Plenty of people do play both, to get the nostalgia from Rewritten and the novelty from Clash, but personally I prefer the latter.

Have a dancing Chip, and have a good day!

#ask response #tlblitz #toontown #toontown corporate clash #toontown rewritten

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year

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Rob Rogers

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 16, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 17, 2023

A few quick notes tonight about some ongoing stories: There is more news about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his misreporting of his financial connections. This morning, Shawn Boburg and Emma Brown of the Washington Post reported that for twenty years, Thomas has reported rental income totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a real estate firm that was shut down in 2006. The misstatement might be dismissed as a problem with paperwork, the authors note. “But it is among a series of errors and omissions that Thomas has made on required annual financial disclosure forms over the past several decades, a review of those records shows. Together, they have raised questions about how seriously Thomas views his responsibility to accurately report details about his finances to the public.” The cascade of stories about Thomas threatens to continue to undermine the legitimacy of this Supreme Court. Last night, the nation suffered one mass shooting in Dadeville, Alabama, that killed four people and wounded twenty-eight others, and another in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed two and wounded four. On Friday, Republican hopefuls for the 2024 presidential nomination courted members of the National Rifle Association, the NRA, at the organization’s 2023 annual convention, promising looser gun laws. South Dakota governor Kristi Noem complained about liberals who “want to take our guns,” and boasted that her granddaughter, who is not yet two, has a shotgun and a rifle. Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to focus on rebalancing the Indo-Pacific to counter China. Just two weeks after the fiftieth anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and nearly thirty years after the restoration of diplomatic ties in 1995, the U.S. has broken ground on a new $1.2 billion embassy compound in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh yesterday and vowed to “broaden and deepen” relations between the two countries. Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, U.S. Agency for International Development administrator Samantha Power, and members of Congress have all visited Vietnam recently as part of a long-term strategy to help area friends and allies counterbalance China in the Indo-Pacific region. Yesterday, Blinken emphasized how the U.S. and Vietnam, working together, “can advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, one that is at peace and grounded in respect for the rules-based international order.” But, as Vietnam has a one-party communist government, he explained, “When we talk about ‘free and open,’ we mean countries being free to choose their own path and their own partners and that problems will be dealt with openly; rules will be reached transparently and applied fairly; and goods, ideas, and people will flow freely across land, the seas, the skies, and cyberspace.” Vice President Harris spoke yesterday at a march for reproductive rights in Los Angeles, where she emphasized how deeply our international standing depends on our commitment to freedom at home. “I’ve been traveling around the world as your Vice President,” she said. “When we, as Americans, walk in those rooms around the world, we have traditionally walked in those rooms, shoulders back, chin up, having some authority to talk about the importance of rule of law, human rights. “But here’s the thing we all know about what it means to be a role model: People watch what you do to see if it matches what you say. So let us understand that what is happening in our nation right now, by extension, can impact people around the world who dare to say, ‘I want my country to be like the United States and protect rights.’ And those autocrats and those dictators might look at those folks and say, ‘What are you pointing to as the example?’” “We are seeing, around the country, in a myriad of ways, those who would dare to attack fundamental rights and, by extension, attack our democracy,” Harris said. “Around our country, supposed so-called extremist leaders…dare to silence the voices of the people.” “A United States Supreme Court, the highest court in our land, that took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America. “We have seen attacks on voting rights; attacks on fundamental rights to love and marry the people that you love; attacks on the ability of people to be themselves and be proud of who they are. “And so, this is a moment that history will show required each of us, based on our collective love of our country, to stand up and fight for and protect our ideals…. [W]e have been called upon to be the next generation of the people who will help lead and fight in this movement for freedom and liberty based on our love of our country…. [W]e stand for our democracy. And we stand for foundational and fundamental principles that have everything to do with freedom, liberty, and equality for all people.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #gun violence #Corrupt SCOTUS #Corrupt GOP #NRA #China #Kamala Harris #Women's rights #reproductive rights #constitutional rights

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daxbuz · 3 months

Text

Personal finance strategies for saving and investing

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Importance of Personal Finance Strategies

3. Saving Strategies

1. Budgeting

2. Automating Savings

3. Cutting Expenses

4. Investing Strategies

1. Diversification

2. Retirement Accounts

3. Passive Income Streams

5. Conclusion: Maximizing Financial Growth

6. FAQ Section

Introduction:

In the realm of personal finance, navigating the complexities of saving and investing can be daunting. However, armed with the right strategies and knowledge, individuals can pave their way to financial security and prosperity. This comprehensive review delves into the intricacies of personal finance strategies for saving and investing in 2024, exploring various techniques and approaches to optimize wealth accumulation and growth.

**1. Importance of Personal Finance Strategies:**

Effective personal finance strategies serve as the cornerstone for achieving financial stability and long-term prosperity. By meticulously planning and implementing strategies tailored to individual goals and circumstances, individuals can gain control over their finances, mitigate risks, and build a solid foundation for future endeavors. Whether aiming for short-term goals like purchasing a home or planning for retirement, strategic financial management is indispensable.

**2. Saving Strategies:**

**1. Budgeting:**

Budgeting stands as the fundamental pillar of financial management, providing a roadmap for allocating income and expenses. By meticulously tracking expenses and setting realistic spending limits, individuals can identify areas of overspending and redirect funds towards savings and investments. Utilizing budgeting apps or spreadsheets simplifies the process, enabling better decision-making and fostering financial discipline.

**2. Automating Savings:**

Automation streamlines the saving process, ensuring consistent contributions towards financial goals. Setting up automatic transfers from checking to savings accounts or utilizing employer-sponsored retirement plans automates savings, removing the temptation to spend impulsively. Additionally, utilizing apps that round up purchases to the nearest dollar and deposit the difference into savings accounts fosters incremental savings growth effortlessly.

**3. Cutting Expenses:**

Trimming unnecessary expenses is paramount in bolstering savings potential. Conducting regular expense audits aids in identifying discretionary spending that can be reduced or eliminated. Negotiating bills, opting for generic brands, and embracing frugal habits contribute to significant cost savings over time. Redirecting these savings towards investments amplifies wealth-building opportunities and accelerates financial progress.

**3. Investing Strategies:**

**1. Diversification:**

Diversification is the bedrock of investment strategy, spreading risk across various asset classes to minimize exposure to volatility. By allocating investments across stocks, bonds, real estate, and alternative assets, individuals can optimize risk-adjusted returns and cushion against market fluctuations. Regular rebalancing ensures alignment with evolving financial goals and risk tolerance levels.

**2. Retirement Accounts:**

Maximizing contributions to retirement accounts such as 401(k)s or IRAs offers tax advantages and accelerates wealth accumulation. Employers often match contributions to retirement plans, amplifying the benefits of consistent savings. Leveraging tax-deferred growth and compound interest within retirement accounts empowers individuals to secure a comfortable retirement lifestyle.

**3. Passive Income Streams:**

Diversifying income sources through passive streams complements traditional employment income, fostering financial resilience and independence. Investing in dividend-paying stocks, rental properties, or creating digital assets like e-books or online courses generates recurring income with minimal ongoing effort. Cultivating multiple passive income streams bolsters financial security and enhances wealth-building potential.

**5. Conclusion: Maximizing Financial Growth:**

In conclusion, embracing personalized finance strategies tailored to individual circumstances is paramount in achieving financial prosperity. By prioritizing saving and investing, individuals can cultivate a robust financial foundation, mitigate risks, and capitalize on growth opportunities. With discipline, diligence, and strategic planning, the path to financial freedom becomes attainable for everyone.

**6. FAQ Section:**

1. Q: How much of my income should I allocate towards savings?

A: Financial experts recommend saving at least 20% of income towards savings and investments to ensure long-term financial security.

2. Q: Is it better to pay off debt before saving or investing?

A: It depends on the interest rates of the debt. High-interest debt should be prioritized for repayment, while simultaneously allocating a portion towards savings and investments to capitalize on compounding returns.

3. Q: What are some low-risk investment options for beginners?

A: Beginner-friendly investment options include index funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and robo-advisor platforms, offering diversified exposure to the market with minimal risk.

4. Q: How often should I review my investment portfolio?

A: Regular portfolio reviews, typically quarterly or semi-annually, are recommended to ensure alignment with financial goals, risk tolerance, and market conditions. Rebalancing may be necessary to maintain diversification and optimize performance.

Learn more

#Personal Finance Strategies #Saving #Investing #Financial Management #Budgeting #Automation #Expense Reduction #Diversification #money

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grizzlyofthesea · 1 year

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I just realized...

I'm a geezer (U.S. definition, not U.K.) by FNAF fandom standards. I was here for stuff like:

"Foxy is a good guy."

"Phone Guy was stuffed in Chica."

"Freddy can teleport into your office even if you have both doors shut."

"Freddy watches you on the first two nights so he can adapt to your strategy."

"Mike kill all."

"FREEDOM!!!"

The Bonnie, Toy Bonnie, and Mangle gender wars

The height of Five Nights at F---boy's (still pretty solid from a gameplay standpoint if you're into RPGs; the Complete Collection rebalanced a few things, too, like Toy Bonnie's moveset)

That Purple Guy animatronic hoax

pole-bear's humanized animatronic designs being everywhere (still miss them :'))

Vincent

Muse of Discord's old FNAF songs

The first look at Springtrap; we called him "The Salvage", and some even thought he was a form of Golden Freddy

The initial release of stuff like "Die in a Fire" and "5 AM at Freddy's: The Sequel"

Heck, the release or peak of all sorts of animations. "Fazbear and Friends," "Cheesy Death," "Freddy Head," "Foxy Gets Hooked," Crazy Boris' "Freddy's Troll Palace" series... A lot.

That one FNAF 4 teaser whose source code accidentally gave coordinates to a real-life pizzeria. The pizzeria was pretty cool about the situation and even did a little promotion for FNAF.

Three whole games released in the span of nine months (I wasn't here for the release of the original FNAF.)

Dream Theory and all the initial outrage around it

OG FNAF World--the one with the 8-bit-style world map

"Thank you!"

I know I'm in the prime of my life, but man, I feel old. TvT

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf fandom #a look into the mind of a fandom “oldie”#but don't get me wrong #the newer fans are great too #it's awesome to see so many people share an interest on such a large scale #i hope fnaf goes down in history as a horror classic #not just indie horror #all horror #it's wholeheartedly insane at this point #but i'm here for it

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pegasusknightsonly · 7 months

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what if awakening had personal skills

i really like the personal skills system in fates and wanted to apply it to a game i enjoy! a game i love, even! and rather than port over the fates skills directly i wanted them to better fit the awakening cast's personalities as well as the awakening metagame itself. a couple of notes and the list itself under the cut:

note #1: awakening is largely a hit/avo stacking game, and most of the class skills affect that. however applying this logic to all the personal skills would 0 out enemy hit WAY too early in the harder difficulties. I've therefore used a more fates-like damage modifier for most of them

note #2: awakening tends to give you pairs of units, with one unit being faster and more skillful but frailer, and the other having more bulk but less offensive power. where possible I've tried to distribute skills the same way, so more offensive personal skills have defensive counterparts elsewhere in the roster

note #3: this list is not perfectly balanced to make every unit equally viable on Luna+. some units are getting a considerable buff to their overall combat, some are getting utility skills, some are getting essentially rebalanced. this is, for now, a completely theoretical exercise and has not been playtested.

note #4: awakening considers supporting units in a pair to be adjacent to the lead unit, but not adjacent to the units adjacent to the lead. so units affected by L's adjacency skills are marked with an X (the / denotes that L is a lead unit in a pair up) .....X..... X L/X X .....X..... and unit's affected by S's adjacency skills are marked with a Z (the / denotes that S is the supporting unit in a pair up) .....0..... 0 Z/S 0 .....0......

note #5: the format for the list will be Unit name: Skill name. Skill description. (Any further notes)

Chrom: Fight Fair. Adjacent enemies can't activate damage-boosting skills. (Do you miss nihil from the tellius games? i do. do you think about nihil from the tellius games every time chapter 6 validar manages to proc vengeance on what should be the killing blow and makes you restart the entire map? i do!!!! Chrom's new personal gives you the only tool in the game to directly mitigate that, and as Chrom is the only unit force deployed on every story map it felt right to give him something Very Useful and unique. it does not nullify pavise, aegis, dragonskin or counter.)

Robin: Grand Strategy. Unit can use their remaining move after rallying. (Canto, for rallies only. It's not another action and Robin can't use this to attack.)

Lissa: Prankster. Adjacent allies have +5 hit and +5 crit. (this seems like it'll be annoying, which is just right for Lissa. finally a use for -skl Robin)

Frederick: Wary Watcher. +10 dodge when enemy has 100% HP.

Sully: Red Panther. When adjacent to two or more allies including pair up partner, +2 skill and +2 speed to unit and adjacent allies.

Virion: Gentilhomme. +5 hit and +5 avoid to all female allies within a 3 tile radius.

Stahl: Green Bull. When adjacent to one or more allies including pair up partner, +1 def and +1 res to unit and adjacent allies. (straightforward defensive counterpart to Sully's offensive skill)

Vaike: Big Swings. Unit does +2 damage when wielding an axe.

Miriel: Well Read. Unit does +2 damage when wielding a tome.

Sumia: Fly Together. Unit does +2 damage and receives -2 damage when paired up. (first story skill! I had to give Sumia something involved pair-up as she's the reason it exists)

Kellam: Undetectable. When supporting in a pair up, unit has +10% dual strike rate. (DS+ for Kellam only when supporting. Does not affect his partner's rate like DS+)

Lon'qu: Gynophobic. Unit deals and receives +2 damage when supported by a female unit. (ummed and ahhed about whether it should be +3, but he has like... 20 base HP. it's +2)

Maribelle: Refinement. Adjacent allies have +5 hit and +5 dodge. (a counterpart to Lissa's skill that is honestly a LOT more useful)

Ricken: Bravery. Unit takes -2 damage from non-adjacent attacks.

Panne: Natural Speed. Unit has +1 mov at when HP = 100% at the start of the turn. (A strong skill, sure, but Panne lacks galeforce to really make use of it and +1 HP level ups on enemy phase will negate it entirely. she could get mov+1 from thief and deliverer from griffon knight to go crazy with this but that's a LOT of effort. funny though)

Gaius: Nimble. Unit takes -2 damage from adjacent attacks.

Cordelia: Fly Solo. Unit does +2 damage and recieves -2 damage when not paired up. (straightforward counterpart to Sumia)

Nowi: Natural Defences. Unit has +2 def/res when HP = 100% at the start of the turn. (Like Panne, easily negated by +HP level ups on EP)

Gregor: School of Life. Unit's pair-up partner earns 20% more EXP. (it's not fair that veteran is Robin-exclusive, right? here's a worse version for, realistically, Miriel and Nowi only)

Libra: Calming Mien. +5 avoid and +5 dodge to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

Tharja: Spite. +20 hit when attacking enemies with <100% HP.

Olivia: Evasive. Avoid +10, but hit -15. (I wanted this to be contingent on her not holding a weapon but you have to get Olivia through dark flier somehow)

Cherche: Knightly Honour. +15 hit if enemy has 100% HP.

Henry: Mean Streak. +10 crit if enemy has <100% HP.

Lucina: One Sword. Receives 25% more EXP when carrying or wielding Parallel Falchion. Does not stack with other EXP-boosting skills. (specifically i don't want it to stack with veteran, not that Lucina should have that in her skill pool to begin with. I guess she can't benefit from Gregor's personal either but well... when would that ever come up?)

Say'ri: Blade Dedication. Unit does +2 damage when wielding a sword.

Basilio: West Khan. Unit does +2 damage when wielding a bow.

Flavia: East Khan. Adds 5% to Skill activation rates. (i actually forgot that they're main story recruitables. i never use them...)

Donnel: Lucky. Luck-based skills have their activation rate increased by 10%. (This really only applies to armsthrift in his class set but Donnel loves armsthrift)

Anna: Make A Killing. Unit can use their remaining move after opening a lock. (equivalent to Robin's utility skill and appropriate for the utility queen. in later games her skill "make a killing" is just awakening's despoil, so it didn't make sense to me to double it up even though Anna herself can't access it)

Owain: Aching Blood. +10 hit and +20 crit when <50% HP. (gamble/wrath/vantage ruin owain viable??????????????)

Inigo: Fair Flowers. Unit and partner deal +2 and receive -2 damage when paired up with a female unit.

Brady: Considerate. Luck% chance that the durability of the user's staves will not decrease on usage. (armsthrift... for STAVES)

Kjelle: Training Regime. +2 strength/speed/defence for one turn after attacking.

Cynthia: Crowd's Cheers. Unit recieves 1.5x the stat boost from rally skills. (The people go wild! Yay! Huzzah! Nice job, Cynthia! We love Cynthia! Hip-hip-hooray! …And so on.)

Severa: Competitive. When paired up, unit deals +3 damage but partner's dual strikes deal -5. (i feel like this should be worse, given how powerful pairup is...)

Gerome: Immovable Wall. +5% increase to dual guard rates.

Morgan: Adaptable. +10 avoid and +10 dodge when <50% HP.

Yarne: Timid Taguel. When paired up, unit deals -3 damage but partner's dual strikes deal +3. (straightforward counterpart to Severa. damn there's really good synergy between them, huh)

Laurent: Observant. When not paired up, unit has +15% dual strike rate.

Noire: Fluctuating State. On odd-numbered turns, +2 damage dealt. On even-numbered turns, -2 damage received.

Nah: Mighty Roar. -5 hit and -5 avo to all enemies within four spaces.

Tiki: The Voice. +5 hit to all allies and -5 dodge to all enemies within four spaces.

SPOTPASS CHARACTERS

Gangrel: Cruel Orders. +10 crit and -10 dodge to allies within three spaces.

Walhart: Iron Fist. All allies get +5 hit.

Emmeryn: Gentle Touch. -10 crit and +10 dodge to allies within four spaces.

Yen'fay: Ghost Of A Blade. +20 avoid when wielding a sword.

Aversa: Shadowgift. Unit can use dark magic in any tome wielding class.

Priam: Legendary Heritage. Adds 10% to Skill activation rates.

#fire emblem awakening #awakening theoryposting

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catiuapavel · 2 years

Note

Have you got any tips for Tactics Ogre first timers before next week? The story is my main interest if that makes a difference.

I'll try to give you a few tips I can think of, if anyone else has a personal tip to share, it'd be welcome!

I'll keep them spoilers-free, just in case (at the exception of the readmore details for the tip 2).

1. If you’re going in somewhat blind and not following a guide for story and recruitment (which was my experience and I don’t regret it at all), I’d recommend checking the Warren report for talks and rumours every now and then after story steps. Certain entries are worded to give hints about potential sidequests that may lead to recruiting characters.

2. On the topic of recruiting characters... There are few story recruitable characters you will fight before you can eventually recruit them. You can kill them. If you’re hoping to recruit them, try get them to critical health so they flee the battle instead. I’ll name a few under read-more!

3. In general, if you’re interested in the story and characters, I’d recommend not killing certain enemy units too fast. There are a lot of dialogues that get triggered depending on their health percentage! They also vary depending on who you bring to battle so I recommend bringing characters who know the boss (or are likely to know them). The dialogues during battles are incredible, both in quality and quantity.

4. No matter what your choices are, you can go back to certain story steps after finishing the game once, to explore different route or complete quests you missed so I wouldn’t stress over missing anything on a first playthrough, you can just hop around to revisit these segments!

5. In terms of gameplay, archers used to be completely busted and a good crutch to rely in BUT they’re apparently rebalancing all the classes so it’s possible they’re not going to be as dependable. I’d still try them to make things easier though.

6. Absolutely rely on the Chariot system during battle if you’re struggling. You’ll be able to rewind and change certain actions to re-work your strategy. Tactics Ogre’s maps are fairly sizeable and the battles can get long so this is a good featre to avoid restarting entirely.

7. For rescue missions (there are a few of them in TO), having fast units to heal/throw items and protect the unit can be a great help to reach them easily and keep them from dying.

From what I’ve seen and read, the gameplay has undergone a lot of changes which I can’t give advices on until I experience them, but my understanding of these changes lead me to believe the game will be harder than its PSP counterpart (but probably not quite as hard as the original SFC release). There seems to be alot of Quality of Life additions too that will make it faster to go through menus, equip and level skills though!

8. This one is a bit petty but I've seen many people share this feeling: I'd recommend switching to Japanese voice-acting from the start or turning it off entirely (unless there is a nostalgia for early video game and anime English dubs' quality)

2. The characters in question include Ravness (Lawful route only), Sherri, Ozma (during her lawful route sidequest, she will attack you and the boss of the level + her recruitment quests has some dialogue, loyalty and rumour-reading requirements involved), Ganpp

#tactics ogre #i hope any of this helps a bit!

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shoppncarticles · 1 year

Text

Every Binding of Isaac Boss: Part 5

So, if you’ll remember from the previous article, I said a particularly ambitious and expansive fanmade mod for Rebirth was being created at the same time as the Afterbirth DLC, and once it released it was met with a lot of acclaim and praise for just how expansive it was. It added a whole alternate floor path to the game, separate from the base game’s loop of Basement-Caves-Depths-Womb and featured speciall enemies and bosses exclusive to that alt path, as well as a collection of new items and two mechanically-unique characters to boot.

This mod, titled The Binding of Isaac Antibirth was so noteworthy and impressive for the time that it caught the eye of creator Edmund McMillen, and upon realizing how much more compelling he found it than the official Afterbirth and Afterbirth+ DLCs, decided to hire the mod team as official developers to port the mod into a new third DLC pack… with a couple original additions to boot.

And thus, after several years in the making, the Binding of Isaac Repentance was released, containing almost all of Antibirth’s additions to the game, making it all compatible with the previous DLC packs, as well as the mentioned new stuff just to make the deal even sweeter.

All the positive changes that Repentance made to the game can’t be summarized just in a paragraph here, but trust me when I say that the original Rebirth feels incredibly shallow and half-baked by comparison in retrospect. Repentance adds a ton of quality of life changes, such as giving unique door frames to special rooms found on floors, optimizing how certain RNG mechanics work to be more consistent, rebalancing a ton of items and characters, and more. Ut acts as an excellent cap to the game’s official support, and I really couldn’t ask for a better collection of new content as a major fan of the game.

So, without wasting any more time, let’s talk about the DLC’s new bosses. Get comfortable, because there’s a lot to cover here. Repentance adds more bosses than any of the previous versions of the game have before, including the original Flash game.

Baby Plum

Repentance’s first addition to the boss bestiary is a big, cutesy blood fly who pirouettes around the room, seemingly unaware of the rings of bloody tears she creates in her wake. Baby Plum was used frequently as a cute mascot of both the Antibirth mod and the Repentance DLC, and considering the other options available it’s not hard to see why she was chosen.

A neat easter egg is that if you don’t fight back against Baby Plum and instead dodge all her attacks for a little bit, she’ll fly away harmlessly and leave the unique Plum Flute item as a reward. It lets you summon Baby Plum to help you fight when used, which is an incredibly charming secret. The two of you can join forces against the vile monsters of the depths if you so choose, and ain’t that just the sweetest thing this blood-filled insect could do for you.

Bumbino

Bumbino is a monstrous version of Bumbo, a character created by Isaac who actually serves as the protagonist of a spin-off game with its own selection of demonic and unhygienic monsters. Bumbo is a brutish caveman-type character, obsessed with money, which is played up even further with this malformation of the character. He’s so obsessed, in fact, he’ll stop targeting you and go for spare change on the ground if any appears. He lacks feet too, and just has to crawl and shuffle along the ground to get anywhere. Not that he seems to care.

Reap Creep

Reap Creep is a really cool concept for a boss, being a big bad version of various wall-clinging spider enemies which shoot a variety of projectiles. Reap Creep combines the strategies of three of these types, with the ability to shoot linear shots, spread shots, or more of those giant blood lasers bosses are so fond of. Reap Creep also rotates its head to match each style it’s going to work with, which is quite a cool touch as well. As an additional touch, I like its spindly spider legs quite a bit. A very solid design indeed!

The Pile

The last of the new bosses which can appear on the game’s standard path is the Pile, an original posthumous boss from the Antibirth mod. Like the Stain, the Pile is a dead version of Polycephalus, but is even deader thanks to it being completely skeletal. It seems to have matured since being a lump of malformed baby heads, now just grumpily burrowing through the ground as it charges at Isaac and attempts to knock his block off with flying bones.

Lil Blub

So, like I said, the Antibirth mod and Repentance DLC adds an alternate path to the main game, featuring unique floors that hold special elemental themes and their own unique sets of enemies and bosses. Most of the game’s areas are some variety of typical caverns and stone dungeons. Meanwhile, the alternate floors have more varied setpieces like haunted sewers, magma-filled mines, occult temples, and more. These alternate floors are a bit more mechanically complex than the standard game as well, often coming with unique features or tricks that make them stand out quite a bit from the base game’s offerings. They definitely feel like an even harder hurdle to experienced players looking to test their mettle with the game’s challenges.

The first boss that can be found in these alt floors is Lil Blub, a different posthumous Duke of Flies who’s bloated from his apparent watery grave and filled with leeches instead of flies. He inhabits the Downpour, a flooded version of the basement that’s home to the little buggers and other enemies based on water and reflections. Lil Blub fights a lot like Duke did, hacking up his inner inhabitants, as well as splashing violently in the water to spew tears every which way and make Isaac’s day just a bit worse.

I like how the water has affected the Duke’s body quite a bit in this design, mostly in the facial region. The bloating has given him jowls, not only reflecting his corpulent nature but also making his face a bit fishlike in appearance as well. Also, you can’t really beat that delighted smile, can you.

Wormwood

The big boss version of Downpour’s leeches, Wormwood fights a lot like Pin and is even built like it, but it is completely different in appearance and has way more violent attacks at its disposal. Wormwood is violent, to say the least, since not only does it jump out of the water at Isaac and spew volleys of watery tears at the kid, it can also break holes in the ground with its jagged tail and burst out from the wall once its health is low enough. Wormwood feels like the most animalistic of all of Isaac’s foes, like some sort of violet deep sea predator that cares for nothing more than eating Isaac for lunch. Fitting, given its lack of any facial features besides a mouth and its inhuman, retractable teeth. Definitely one of my favorite monstrous designs here.

The Rainmaker

A much goofier member of the Downpour bosses, Rainmaker is a little ghost who, as his name implies, makes it rain by summoning volleys of tears during his attacks, even having streams of water pour down (harmlessly) on the room while he’s active. What’s incredibly charming about Rainmaker, though, is all his moves involve dancing and striking suave poses, as if preforming for an audience during the fight, helped by the rose in his mouth in the boss portrait. Can’t fault the guy here, he knows how to put on a show.

Min-Min

Another highly interesting boss, Min-Min is a fiery wisp that inhabits a completely dead version of the Husk, said to be “long dead and salted.” She acts as the boss version of several of the fiery flies which also inhabit the Downpour, seemingly contrasting the area’s watery grave theming. All good in my book, as it helps Min-Min stand out against her fellow bosses. The whole puppeting of a salted Husk corpse is very neat, and once she loses half her health and the corpse crumbles, she just dives into the water and summons groups of fire flies to help in the fight anyways.

Clog

The original Antibirth mod only included one floor type for each chapter of the alt path, but Repentance gave the first three alternatives of their own as well, as if adding just them to the game wasn’t enough. That’s only a good thing in my book, though it does also give us the overly shitty sewers of Dross to parallel the first chapter of the Downpour. If you thought Afterbirth went a little hard on the additions of fecal freaks, I must inform you that Repentance goes even further by giving them their own floor. Repentance’s bosses are a bit more varied, though, as Clog is a mass of various nasty sewer sludges that, as his name implies, clogs the pipes as he sits stationary and controls the flow of water in the room.

Hilariously, ending the fight with Clog doesn’t cause him to burst into gibs like other bosses in the game, and instead seems to cut him down to size as he gets flushed down an unseen pipe.

Colostomia

Colostomia is one of, if not the most viscerally disgusting of the game’s bosses if you know what it represents. This liquidy mass of digestive waste glides across the water as you fight it, leaving explosive gas in its wake before it spews explosive droppings behind to cause a chain reaction of fart bombs to quickly dodge. If that wasn’t bad enough, knocking down half of its HP causes the bag it's in to burst, making it merge with the water of the room while still managing to fight back against you. Finally defeating Colostomia causes it to lose its shape and dissipate into the water completely, turning it murky and brown. Disgusting for sure, but far more creative than the previous shit bosses have been, I think at least.

Turdlet

Edmund and crew just had to get one more poop boss into the game, giving us the perfectly segmented string of turds seen above. Turdlet is almost a direct translation of A Link to the Past’s Moldorm boss, coming full circle ever since Larry Jr.’s introduction so long ago. Turdlet even splits in half once it takes enough damage, like Larry before it. How quaint.

Tuff Twins

Speaking of Larry Jr., they also have a counterpart in the alt path’s next chapter, the Mines. The Mines are floors based off lava and explosions, as all of its bottomless pit obstacles are filled with molten rock, and several dispensers are placed in rooms which drop throwable bombs for Isaac to use to excavate enemies and collectables alike.

The Tuff Twins are a version of Larry Jr. which seem to have become acclimated to this harsher environment, giving them rocky exteriors and an immunity to Isaac’s tears. Thus, he has to use those throwable bombs to blast away their shells and expose their meaty interiors for damage. Really, the concept of these guys isn’t too terribly innovative, but the whole acclimation and evolution thing is cool to see brought into Isaac’s world.

Hornfel

Of course, what would a mine be without minecarts as well? Hornfel is a delightful little imp demon like Loki from the base game, who rides in and out of multiple boss doors around the arena like a Scooby Doo gag as he lobs lit bombs at Isaac in attempts to blow the poor kid to smithereens. He’s definitely one of the more entertaining bosses here, helped by the fact that he’s such a scamp. Hornfel even has an attack where two ragdoll dummies exit doors in carts at the same time he does. If Isaac breaks them (revealing lit bombs inside), Hornfel will taunt him by sticking out his tongue and blowing a raspberry in response.

Hornfel isn’t total hot shit, though, since depleting his health and breaking his cart, causes him to cry and run away from the fight in shame. Oh well, you’ll get ‘em next time Hornfel.

Great Gideon

During Isaac’s numerous journeys in his own subconscious, he’ll come across several stone heads which act as various obstacles, usually stationary turrets, rather than being enemies you can kill. Great Gideon is the boss version of these turrets, known as Grimaces, and incorporates nearly all of their different attack patterns in his fight. However, since those Grimaces are made and stone and thus invincible, so too is Gideon, and bombs won’t help like they did with the Tuff Twins. Instead, Great Gideon is fought in a wave-based system, summoning various hordes of enemies against Isaac as he periodically attacks as well just to make things worse. Once enough waves have been defeated, Gideon deactivates solemnly. However, he can also be killed with a special insta-kill weapon, giving him a total look of shock and surprise before he shatters into tiny pebbles, another cool easter egg for these new bosses.

Singe

The Mines’ counterpart is the Ashpit, a volcanic abyss of ash, bones, and tormented spirits that feels like a desolate wasteland in comparison to the explosive activity of the mines. In contrast to that, though, is Singe, a hyperactive freak who explodes into the sky like a Looney Tune at a moment’s notice, and also knows how to ignite his own farts with a lighter. He feels like the most unhinged and insane of Isaac’s foes, which is surprisingly rare among them. It should be noted that Edmund has gone on record as saying that Singe is his favorite boss in the roster, at least among those added in Repentance, and knowing him and his humor it isn’t hard to see why.

The Shell

The posthumous version of the Tuff Twins is quite interesting, since the name implies that only the rocky shell of the worms remains, somehow reassembled and reanimated to fight back against Isaac. Fittingly, they fight like the Hollow, Larry Jr.’s own posthumous form, but can actually target Isaac if he gets close enough instead of strictly traveling on a diagonal path. When this happens, the Shell also gets tiny glowing pupils in its eye sockets, making for an unnerving visual as it endlessly gnashes its teeth towards Isaac. Breaking the exterior of these ghouls shows they still carry necrotic grey flesh inside, or maybe it’s just masses of ash and waste that built up inside of them. One of the more morbid and decrepit bosses for sure.

Clutch

Clutch is a cool boss, being a purple specter who possesses and empowers the various skeleton enemies who populate the fight alongside it. Clutch itself is invincible when inside a skeleton, and frequently hops between the three in order to avoid taking damage. This doesn’t last forever, though, and eventually Clutch is forced to disassemble the skeletons and use their bony bits as a shield as he charges towards Isaac and spews purple flames everywhere. Clutch’s strong suit is definitely his asymmetrical eyes and jagged smile, a real charmer of a twisted spirit if I do say.

The Siren

The next chapter’s alt floor holds the Mausoleum, a great temple of sorts which holds several occult and magic-themed enemies, as well as various teleporter traps and puzzles to catch you off guard. The first boss found here is the Siren. Siren is actually a pretty neat design, being another strange all-black demon, featuring sharp deep sea predator teeth and no apparent bottom jaw. True to her name, Siren can even use songs to gain temporary control of any friendly familiar items that Isaac may have, bringing them to her side temporarily.

The Heretic

The Heretic is the much more interesting Mausoleum boss, though. Apparently being the Haunt brought back into this world by a ring of cultists, the Heretic starts its fight by exploding all their heads and turning them into shambling zombies before fighting with Isaac. The Heretic is an excellent design, keeping the Haunt’s true bony face and turning its skin into a torn hood-like coating, as well as coating the whole palette in black and giving it a special glowing eye flame. The Heretic is also maybe one of the deadliest foes here, being able to summon huge chains of brimstone lasers and explosive flame bombs, even slamming on the ground hard enough it dislocates its jaw and needs to snap it back into place. Absolutely one of my favorites, and a huge improvement over the Haunt’s previous posthumous form.

The Visage

The Mausoleum’s parallel version is Gehenna, a demonic red torture dungeon of an area, filled with glowing red runes, hanging chains, spiked walls and floors, and more. It appropriately feels like the game’s most unholy and demented location, beating out the demon’s home of Sheol by a longshot. The first boss encountered here, the Visage, is a posthumous version of the Mask of Infamy, also possibly brought back to life by unholy means as its heart is now coated in stone and is chained to the mask as if imprisoning it and preventing the pair from causing too much damage. The iron clad, furnace-like appearance of the mask is also quite intimidating, and the heart retains the ability to use the chain in combat even when the two are separated.

Additionally, the insides of the mask are shown to be flaming at all times when active, and peering into its backside reveals several circles which resemble tiny Isaac heads, as if that’s what’s fueling this horrid thing. Damaging the heart enough shatters the stone coat and reveals it to be made of pure fiery energy, and it has the ability to reignite the mask should it be put out. This thing raises a ton of questions, and feels quite at home in the twisted dungeon of Gehenna.

The Horny Boys

Yes, that genuinely is their name, and while the Horny Boys are incredibly goofy in name and appearance, the true nature of what they are still appears to be quite uncouth when looked at critically. Likewise found in Gehenna, it’s possible that the Horny Boys were created by forcefully stitching Hornfel and Loki together in attempts of creating a greater demon, given the unholy forces that inhabit Gehenna.

Hornfel and Loki don’t seem any eviler in nature though, and gleefully hop around the arena just as they always have while taunting Isaac all the way. What’s most amusing about them, though, is an attack where Loki hops up and down at an increasingly faster pace, spewing more and more complex rings of tears as Isaac attempts to dodge them. While Loki may be well accustomed to these tricks, Hornfel however is not, and grimaces as Loki starts the attack, and gets increasingly nauseous and green as it continues, eventually upchucking fiery bombs at its end, totally sick by Loki’s antics. That’s an incredibly funny attack pattern to give these boys, and does a ton for their charm and character as well.

Chimera

The alt path culminates in the counterpart to the Womb, now a festering mass of green-grey flesh known as the Corpse. This almost silent and empty floor is quite disheartening to explore, if I’m being honest, and has an effectively ominous and quieting atmosphere as you reflect on what it represents. The first boss you can encounter here is Chimera, a hideous combination of Monstro, Gurdy, and the Cage, that, while it keeps Monstro and Gurdy’s delighted nature, seems almost twisted in execution as it hocks explosive puke bombs at you and other malformed enemies found in the floor. The head even falls off the body at one point, causing the two parts to fight alongside each other like many bosses have before. I like that Gurdy’s fleshy growth around Monstro’s head almost resembles a lion’s mane, fitting the title given to this amalgamated beast. That’s quite a clever design touch.

The Scourge

The Scourge is quite neat, being some unseen, tentacled parasite that wears the skin of what is presumably its previous host, or a stitched-together coat of several victims. The hooded specter look here is really cool, as is its cycloptic eye. I do like Scourge a lot for what it is, even if I don’t have much to say about it. Another morbid inhabitant of this decrepit realm.

Rotgut

Rotgut is the final standard boss added in Repentance, being a melting mass of what was once a face, now embedded into the floor of the room it inhabits and forced to inhale anything that comes its way like an antlion larva. Defeating Rotgut and depleting its health actually causes it to swallow Isaac, forcing him to first fight a large maggot inside of it, then its rotting core before being spat back out. It’s surprising the first time you see it, and does act as a neat little parallel to Mom’s Heart before it.

What’s interesting, though, is that Rotgut had a completely different appearance in the Antibirth mod, being some multilayered Sarlaac-like parasite buried in the rotten flesh of the Corpse. I honestly like this interpretation a lot more, if only for being some ambiguous giant bug creature seen so little elsewhere in the game.

Mother

The final boss of the alt path is Mother, a truly monstrous and appalling version of how Isaac views his own mother. This giant mass of flesh traps Isaac in a small room as it towers over him, and tries to slam him with its fists, as well as throwing giant knives that cleave through the fleshy floors and summoning rotting zombie versions of Isaac and using them as projectiles during the fight. It’s not hard to see how Isaac envisions his mother’s treatment of him in this fight. Things only get worse for him during the second phase, in which the grotesque head bursts from the wall in a ball of flesh and fights with him further, spewing waves and waves of maggot-like tears against Isaac. This is effectively a posthumous version of the Mom boss, though it fights completely differently. She even reuses the same voice lines from the Mom boss fight, though heavily warped and distorted.

An interesting change is that the original Antibirth version of this boss was titled the Witness, but Edmund found the name didn’t fit at all, so tried coming up with a new one. Between him and the Antibirth team, they settled on Mother simply because it felt less personal and loving than Mom did, which I think is quite an effective distinction to make here.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Mother’s first form bears resemblance to a giant, dead version of Mama Gurdy. While Mama Gurdy doesn’t appear to have any direct connections with Mom or this boss, the resemblance isn’t unintentional.

Mother was originally conceptualized as a unique, posthumous version of Mama Gurdy titled the Ur-Gurdy, as seen in these mockup screenshots, made long before Antibirth was even a thing. It is quite cool to see these more unlikely origins of the boss, and seeing how far things have come today.

Dogma

That’s not all, though, since defeating Mother unlocks a hidden door on the game’s normal path that leads Isaac to rewind through the previous floors he’s explored, ascending between them as echoes of fights between his parents can be heard in the background music playing throughout. This eventually culminates in Isaac returning to his own bedroom, and walking through the modest house and sleeping in his mother’s bed… before being awoken by visions of a TV reflecting his own face in static. Returning to the central room and finding the previously off TV to now be on, showing only static, has a fetus made up of static emerging from the TV and screaming, initiating a boss fight with the only VS splash screen in the game that’s colored white.

This is Dogma, a representation of the rampant Christian televangelist broadcasts that turned Isaac’s mother into the abusive fanatic she is. As such, it kind of makes Dogma the true villain of the game, a greater threat than the idea of Satan and sin ever was, as it’s responsible for feeding all those ideas into Isaac’s mother who then forced it onto him. At least, it’s Isaac’s way of visualizing that sort of villain.

Edmund McMillen has said in interviews that he wanted to emphasize this part of the story more in Repentance than it had been in the games previously, that while religion can be a very positive and helpful experience for various people, it can also be used in a horrible, corruptive way that can end up hurting those seeking guidance in their times of need. Isaac’s mother was suffering through several arguments and fights with her husband, and turned to religion as a coping mechanism, and the broadcasts which she watched on TV only served to make her more emotional and tormented than she was before. I think this was an incredibly smart decision, especially since the story’s focus on religion and Isaac’s mother was kind of pushed to the side in preference of showing off Isaac’s inevitable death through several metaphors in previous DLC.

Dogma itself is an incredibly effective portrayal of this, in my opinion, representing not only the unnerving nature of old analog TVs with its hazy radio texture and oozing body, but also incorporates several holy and angelic-themed attacks as well. It’s a much more creative representation of religious horrors than the typical demons and devils are.

In battle, Dogma is initially invincible, and instead Isaac must damage the TV in order to fight it, and initially it seems to work as breaking the TV causes Dogma’s umbilical connection to the screen to break and for it to fall into staticky goo, before it reemerges as…

A proper biblical angel, at least one simplified into the game’s artstyle. No longer are angels represented by humanoids, now Dogma takes the form of a more ambiguous holy entity as it fights back against Isaac. It can even take form as an Ophanim briefly, the popular ring-like angel often used in biblically-accurate interpretations. Dogma can also summon balls of god rays in this form as well.

Special mention also goes to Dogma’s unique battle music as well. It’s mostly comprised of harsh guitar and drum beats, layered with droning static and hazy audio, fitting its appearance. However, once the second phase starts and Dogma becomes an angel, a second layer gets added to the music, as raging preachers begin rambling bible verses and claims of God’s wrath in the background, likely repeating the various things that scarred Isaac as he watched televangelical broadcasts with his mother.

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Dogma is one of my favorite bosses in any game I’ve played, since it reflects all the themes and fears it represents so well, not only in the simple effectiveness of its design but also in its accompanying music and excellent attack patterns. It’s one of my favorite things to come out of Isaac, and is honestly quite unexpected from this game about a kid who cries at poop. But hey, don’t judge a book by its cover and all that.

The Ultra Horsemen

Things don’t end there, though, since defeating Dogma causes Isaac’s house to shatter and reveal Hell, traditional lakes of fire and lava and everything. Granted wings by an angelic awakening brought on by the remnants of Dogma, Isaac must do battle with giant, souped-up versions of each of the Harbingers of the Apocalypse. Each of these are nicely detailed versions of their regular forms, though special mention of course goes to how grotesque and rotting Pestilence has become. Death is also quite cool now that he’s been given a scythe at all times. He even shakes his head in disappointment when all of the other Horsemen have failed and it’s up to him to clean up Isaac. Once he fails, however…

The Beast

The Beast of the Apocalypse emerges from the fiery pits of hell to put a stop to Isaac once and for all. In concept, the Beast isn’t a whole lot different than the red-eyed, shadowy-skinned horned demons seen elsewhere in the game, but its giant appearance and grotesque boils, veins, and unfocused eyes really help to accentuate how, for lack of a better word, beastly this thing is. It’s fueled and motivated only by destruction, and is by far the strongest enemy Isaac is able to face given how many screen-covering attacks it has. Originally, the Beast was supposed to have a laughing animation whenever Isaac got hurt during the fight, but I think not including it was the right decision. It makes the Beast less human than it would’ve been otherwise, and accentuates how utterly catastrophic it truly is.

An interesting detail with the Beast’s design is the seemingly out of place polka dot cloth wrapping around the bottom of its head. This is actually the same pattern used on all depictions of the dress Isaac’s mother wears, and thus it can be interpreted that the Beast is yet another representation of Isaac’s mother. It’s even referred to by the alternate name the Mother of Harlots to further this point. Given this reading, the Beast represents how corrupt and horrible Isaac’s mother has become since growing obsessed with religious preaching and scripture, turning her into just as vile and destructive of a being in Isaac’s eyes as whatever demonic force she fears. It’s not usunusal that those who fanatically claim to be religious saints and disciples of God can often end up doing extreme harm to those around them, which is what the Beast is meant to represent on the whole. Dogma is the dangerous teachings which fuels these monsters, and the Beast is what is created because of it.

Defeating the Beast leads to a relatively happy ending where Isaac ascends into heaven, forgiving himself for the fights his parents had which he believed had been his fault, only for it to be revealed that the ending (and by extension, the whole game, since its style matches that of the opening cinematic) was nothing more than a bedtime story being told to Isaac by his father. He asks Isaac if that’s really how he wants the story to go, before restarting it by repeating the game’s opening dialogue, only changing the line “Isaac and his mother lived in a house” to “Isaac and his parents lived in a house,” perhaps reflecting that there is a more optimistic end to this narrative than previously known.

Edmund McMillen has said the ending of the actual Isaac remains unchanged, that he still ends up dead inside a toy box, but I suppose the Beast ending exists for those that wanted to end their experiences with Isaac on a lighter note, and I think it works well towards that end. After so many final bosses with endings that show nothing has really been changed for the better, overcoming the source of the madness and its apocalyptic creation finally lets Isaac rest easy, which then makes a perfect ending to this DLC and story as a whole.

And thus, every official Isaac boss has been covered on my blog! It was fun to talk about them all, and discussing the story was interesting since I do enjoy how this endless roguelike game handles its story and themes in metaphoric ways. Isaac is a very important game to me and I’m glad I could spend some time discussing it here, so thanks for checking out the articles and reading. I appreciate it.

[Isaac Archive]

#binding of isaac #tboi #tboi repentance #monster design #design critique #creature feature

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