OH MY GOD WE ARE WINNING YALL

KEEP CALLING DO NOT STOP

DO NOT STOP CALLING LOOK AT WHAT WE ARE DOING!!!

Im re re re posting this because Swords Without Master is my favorite ttrpg and I hope this release gives me more opportunities to play iiiitttt

Stripe apologizes for customer service agents claiming LGTBQ products were banned “The information given by our support team was totally wrong.”

NEW from me: Stripe has issued a statement apologizing for its reps saying it prohibits LGBT content
www.theverge.com/report/75892...

Itch is not a "predatory corporation" seeking to erase queerness from the Internet. They are being monetarily threatened and blackmailed by some of the largest and most dangerous corporate entities on the planet. Criticizing Itch at this juncture makes you look deeply unserious and uninformed.

Angels Egg, Perfect Blue, Your Name, Liz and the Bluebird, and Fortunes Favors Lady Nikuko in one swoop is crazy

still rattled by the sheer giddy glee with which some queers are coming for itch.io, one of the largest collections of queer games in existence. i know it's scary to accept, but we do actually have good things worth defending. we have things it would damage us to lose

It Feels Like Hell on Earth, but Another World Is Possible A magazine of Black politics and culture

🚨The Seventh Issue of Hammer & Hope is now live.

The decline of the United States into a more open form of authoritarianism continues. The damage here is connected to damage elsewhere. But cracks in the right-wing offensive are also starting to emerge. hammerandhope.org/article/trum...

Reblusking this one because, well, here's the deal. Swords Without Master has been in issue 3 of Worlds Without Master for ~10,000 years.

And it's time.

It's just time for it to leave the nest. Time for it to find its own way in the world.

So we're gearing up for a new, stand-alone edition.

Companies Are Pouring Billions Into A.I. It Has Yet to Pay Off.

Surprise…

AI may not be the corporate silver bullet CEOs have hoped for

(gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/b...

I think everyone should be paying attention to what payment processors are doing to independent game developers right now. Games have been the testbed for a lot of the shittiest ideas going right now and you better believe this effort will broaden its goals quickly

White House Announces Comprehensive Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions

I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’ve fully reckoned w/how much the Trump agenda is rooted in racial grievance. Every day, we’re seeing the full force of white identity politics in action. Wild how much of it is just taken for granted, at least from where I sit.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/a...

Buried in the regime's political takeover letter of the Smithsonian is the worst bit. Unlike exhibits, which are non-destructive towards primary materials, temporary in nature, and reversible, the foundational collections are irreplacable. They want to be able to throw stuff out.

We're not in theoretical "they could come after sfw queer content LATER" territory anymore. It is being used to come after sfw queer content NOW.

Spread this around, send the article to any and every news outlet/content creator you can think of. The alarms need to be sounded

And KEEP CALLING

Blizzard Entertainment

Hell yeah, another Blizzard union
aftermath.site/blizzard-union...

Of course, this is just an open letter. As it stands, nothing here is compelling Microsoft to turn over a new leaf that even comes close to matching the intoxicating aroma of ill-gotten cash. But these things have a way of snowballing. When Badru, the creator of open-world tactics RPG Tenderfoot Tactics, removed his game from Xbox in solidarity with BDS earlier this year, he told Aftermath: “Whether we're able to make Microsoft change or not directly, part of the point of targeting them is to be able to advocate around this and show these connections. Otherwise, nobody's interested in Azure Cloud. Nobody wants to talk about whatever Microsoft's bullshit AI is doing. These boycotts create opportunities for us to shine a light.” Now news organizations are investigating Azure Cloud, and mainstream coverage is shifting more and more to critique and decry Israel’s actions, especially its long-term starvation of Gazans. Meanwhile, international sentiment continues to turn against Israel. A letter like this both arises from and contributes to that slow cooker of pressure, as do possible future actions like work stoppages or strikes, which STJV-affiliated game workers have employed before. Eventually, even a behemoth like Microsoft will cave.

people have suggested that movements like BDS stand no chance of moving the needle, that big companies will always follow the money. but these things have a way of snowballing, and we're seeing that now

aftermath.site/microsoft-az...

So good to see Arkane's workers push for this!

Also a great example of one of the core benefits of unionization, which is just "creating a structure for discussion and systems to make collective decisions." Always much harder to get action at scale like this if there isn't already organization.

'Microsoft has no place being accomplice of a genocide:' Arkane union workers demand Xbox maker sever ties with Israel Arkane Studios' STJV section in France has published an open letter in support of the Palestinian-led BDS movement.

'Microsoft has no place being accomplice of a genocide:' Arkane union workers demand Xbox maker sever ties with Israel

Screenshot of the Steam page for Malys showing that 100% of the 69 reviews are positive

Malys is STILL 100% positive on Steam 🙌

We read every single review and cannot thank you enough 🖤

Reviews are one of the most powerful ways to help support us as a studio - if you've played Malys, please consider leaving one! 🕯️

http://bit.ly/playmalys

'We're not safe here' In the immediate days after, creators have found themselves at a loss of what to do. Game developer krispycat, also known as ButterflyLatte, reports that her NSFW game demo, known as "The Seventh Bride," was deindexed, and is only shown when specifically searched for. It wasn't just this game, either. "On a whim, I tried to search up my SFW games as well - Wendy, warm, Like Seafoam. These games are fairly innocent and wholesome; 'warm' and 'Wendy' star children. However, they don't appear in the suggestions either - I suspect it's because they're yuri games," she recounted, describing a genre of fiction which depicts romance between two female characters and has no inherent sexual elements.

Some creators report that an entire game jam - or collection of games developed in a short period to build community - was affected. The Toxic Yuri Game Jam, consisting of over 200 different games, saw significant hits, with over half of the games delisted and several being completely removed from the site. One user, known as Kastel, describes how a joke game they made was delisted squarely for having the tag "erotic." They mention how this jam was filled with first time developers, and how the occurrence of these bans led to mass panic, watching a happy community turn into people feeling completely doomed. "I've done a bunch of these game jams, so I'm giving them advice. And then I'm looking at all this and it's just... what do I even say? This is a pretty bad situation. I can't pretend that this is good. This isn't a wonderful thing we can all survive. It's pretty rough. I feel bad for everyone, especially because it's their first wave of censorship."

“She was not the only developer who reported the company singling out yuri content.”

Games journalists really dropped the ball on itchio targeting yuri content, both SFW and NSFW

The censorship of Toxic Yuri Game Jam hasn’t gotten any coverage from the games press

Reminder: Seeing evidence that the pushback is working is not a reason to step back and declare victory, it's a reason to ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴄᴀʟʟɪɴɢ!

The UK speedran straight from porn to educational material in the regulation-to-censorship pipeline. We were warning people of this kind of thing but it happened faster than I expected.

Many of these are debut authors. Please check out their books also.

Kids “online safety” regulation that is actually mass online censorship is such an underreported issue. research shows that kids like LBGTQ youth experience positive benefits online and would benefit severely harmed by such censorship bills.

IGN re-shared a Jim Trinca (Eurogamer) video after cutting out a Palestine comment
www.resetera.com/threads/12...

Martyrs of Gaza @GazaMartyrs This is my will and my final message. If my words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. God knows that I have given all my effort and strength to be a support and a voice for my people since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that God would grant me life to return with my family and loved ones to our original town of Ashkelon (Al-Majdal), occupied land. But God's will was swifter, and His decree is binding. I lived pain in all its details, tasted grief and loss repeatedly, yet I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is—-without distortion or falsification— hoping God would bear witness against those who remained silent, those who accepted our killing, those who besieged our breaths, and whose hearts were not moved by the shattered bodies of our children and women, nor did they stop the massacre our people have faced for more than a year and a half.

I entrust you with Palestine, the jewel of the Muslim world and the pulse of every free heart in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its innocent children who were not granted the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart, their remains scattered on the walls. l urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward liberating the land and the people until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland. I entrust you with my family. I entrust you with the apple of my eye, my beloved daughter, Sham, whom fate did not allow me to see grow as I dreamed. I entrust you with my dear son, Salah, whom I wished to support and accompany until he grew strong, carrying my burden and continuing the mission.

I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose prayers were the reason I reached where I did. Her supplications were my fortress, and her light my path. I pray God to ease her heart and reward her abundantly on my behalf. I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah Bayan, from whom war separated us for long days and months, but who remained faithful, steadfast like an olive tree trunk that never bends, patient and devout, carrying the trust in my absence with strength and faith. I urge you to gather around them and be their support after God Almighty. If I die, I die steadfast on my principles, bearing witness to God that I am satisfied with His decree, believing in meeting Him, and certain that what is with God is better and everlasting. O God, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path to freedom for my people and family.

Forgive me if I fell short, and pray for me mercy, for I have remained true to the covenant, never changing or betraying it. Do not forget Gaza... And do not forget me in your good prayers for forgiveness and acceptance. Anas Jamal Al-Sharif 06.04.2025 This is what Anas ordered to be published upon his martyrdom.

Anas Al Sharif had these words to publish if he was martyred which he was tonight as Israel starts the invasion of Gaza City

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.

‘I feel violated’ - Queer Creators Lose Livelihoods in Itch.io bans The recent Itch bans on queer and NSFW content have damaged careers and put countless people out of work. Though some are now on the verge of homelessness, they’re still organizing and fighting back. TNN delves into what’s at stake on the frontlines of the fight against anti-queer censorship.

Over the past month, independent content hosting platform Itch.io has been systematically banning queer & NSFW content. We talked to creators about how this impacted them, and how they’re fighting back.

Written by @thefreeradical.org and edited by @davidforbes.bsky.social

Sent more letters and made my calls. The MasterCard line wouldn't even connect so I left a message with the CEO instead.

I'm going up North for a few days, good luck out there everyone!

New Important Resource:
cartoonist.coop/censorship-p...

Troy McClure from the Simpsons, "Hi you may know me from my other Kickstarters"

Have you checked out Headcases yet?

Two teens on a run with a severed head inside a backpack. One serial killer who needs the head back. What could possibly go wrong?

www.kickstarter.com/projects/les...

STARTING NOW!!!