Elf Herself

Sometimes it's just "ugh, don't like that, and don't want to interact with this person in the future." I rarely block for things like that, but sometimes I look at a reply, and then check out the person's other post, and decide "nope, do not need to ever talk with this person."

This is the type of hater energy that will fuel us in the years ahead.

Tales of Kthonic Waters - Demo by justonky Crunchy Solo Narrative RPG of the Lovecraftian New Weird

Tales of the Kthonic Waters is only available as a demo for now, but the final is coming out soon. (I'm part of the beta group.) It's a mystery game; enough crunch to not just be writing prompts, but very focused on how the story develops as you explore.

justonky.itch.io/tales-of-kth...

Haxen by NotWriting A solo post-apocalypse RPG

Haxen is a map-making game with no randomizers. You have runes you cross off as they're used; there's some strategy in choosing and placing them. Minimal journaling, but noting where you've been & what you've found is useful. It may be too dungeon-crawlery for your friend.

notwriting.itch.io/haxen

Project ECCO by Elliot Davis A solo time travel game played across the pages of a planner

Project Ecco has choices and strategies (at least, after playing a while) - it requires a day planner (can be used) (might be better if it's used) plus dice, cards, and potentially a tarot deck. It's an intense long game, not a single-session thing.

moreblueberries.itch.io/ecco

Top physical games tagged carta Find physical games tagged carta like The Tea Shelf, Oyasumi Wonderland, Untitled Moth Game, Moon Rings, Borealis on itch.io, the indie game hosting marketplace

Carta games can have a bit of strategy - you're building a map from a card layout, and once some are uncovered, you have choices. But they can play a little too much like solo boardgames; the journaling is sometimes optional.
itch.io/physical-gam...

Top physical games tagged second-guess Find physical games tagged second-guess like You've Killed A Man, Gender Bending Reflections, The Shopkeeper's Saga, New Year, New You (?), The Winter Guard: A Gothic Horror Second Guess TTRPG on itch...

Second Guess System is a good intro to journaling (write as much or as little as you want; develop the story through prompt questions); however, it doesn't have any strategy or puzzles.

itch.io/physical-gam...

Shouldn't the form be for Solo But Not Alone 6?

(I have all the SBNA bundles. They are wonderful. I'd like to submit something this year and have to make decisions about that.)

"Schools suck and it's the Democrats' fault."

Yeah. Autism was recognized as a disorder separate from schizophrenia in the 70s.

After that, autism diagnoses greatly increased. How shocking. How bizarre. Something must be wrong with the schools.

ADHD: Formally labeled in the 80s. After which…

The article is built on sand.

"DOGE doesn't exist" is better read as "it's going to be damned hard to find anyone to hold accountable for DOGE's crimes."

Can you walk all the way across the parking lot with your purchases? Stand in the heat at an unshaded stop with no bench? Is it safe to cross the lot in a wheelchair? Will the bus driver even see you?

Even without extra time, public transit often doesn't work for the people who most need it.

A transit-friendly society would have the bus pull up to the main door of the Target. But of course, they don't do that. Wouldn't want to give the impression that people who can't afford a car might shop there.

So even when public transit goes "to" a place - it may not be accessible.

Image of a parking lot and street, with outlines around the entrance to a Target and a bus stop - all the way across a very large parking lot, more than a block's walking distance.

Ages ago, Sociological Images wrote about this. It included an overhead view of the distance between the bus stop & the main entrance.

Anyone who can't walk more than a full block carrying all their purchases (and possibly kids) is going to need to drive.
thesocietypages.org/socimages/20...

Nursing is no longer counted as a 'professional degree' by Trump admin The Department of Education has excluded nursing as a "professional degree" program as it implements various changes to student loans.

The Republican Administration now says nursing is no longer a "professional degree" for the purpose of allocating student loans. I have no doubt it is the number of black women in a female-coded profession that led to this decision.

www.newsweek.com/nursing-not-...

Or sometimes, we buy it even though we "can afford better" - because our goal is to reduce the annual cost of clothing, and nothing else actually lasts longer than the $5 t-shirt.

We can no longer count on being able to pay more for better-made, more durable clothing - just currently fashionable.

I found one of mine is gated as well. I do not have it marked NSFW. (I did have it marked "kinky." I've removed the tag; I don't believe "kinky" should mean "you must be 18 to see this.")

...fascinating.

By which I mean, "horrible."

Didn't occur to me to check mobile; I don't look at itch on a mobile browser. Desktop doesn't seem to have that issue.

The app has required age verification for NSFW works since the initial shadowban. Doesn't happen in a browser.

Also, the app does not have the full list of items - things show up in browser search that the app can't find.

If itch wants me to use the app, it needs to be better than using Firefox.

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality by itch.io and 1391 others Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality: 1741 items for $5.00

I bought the Bundle for Racial Justice & Equality at itch.io five years ago.

And about 40 other charity bundles since.

If I never buy another game again... I am never running out of games to play.

I was poor. I went to thrift stories and spent 50 cents on the albums that had cover art I liked, took them home and listened to them to decide if I liked them.

Discovered Cat Stevens, Head, Pentangle, and the Funkadelics that way.

YouTube video by There I Ruined It What bro country sounds like to people who don't like bro country

We already had the perfect AI-generated country song.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CORA...

"Health problems from disease more dangerous than health problems from vaccination for that disease: SHOCKING NEW STUDY RESULTS!!!"

I not only have limited time to listen to shows, I have limited time to hunt for them. I'd be willing to try a show with a recommendation from a friend that I'd pass over while looking for myself.

I don't have time to try an hour of everything, so I start with the ones I'm most likely to enjoy.

If you're following the money, it's in D&D. If you want your own most dedicated audience, you figure out who those are and play the game they want to hear.

D&D is going to remain the industry powerhouse as long as people are saying "well, but that's where all the people are."

Not "likely to be bad." But "less likely to be interesting to me" if it's all coming from a small range of perspectives, and much more likely to accidentally be offensive in ways none of the participants notice.

Generally not worth the risk. Might try on a rec; not wasting my time to check.

Or make sure there's something going on while someone looks up the rules - keep people talking, encourage players to say "oh this reminds me of when..." and throw in random not-yet-canon details from their background or something like that.

"Ah, no, I meant that we'd give the money to *businesses*, and give them tax breaks, and *they'll* hire enough people to..."

Setting aside how many other things are wrong with that: No amount of corporate hiring is going to fix schools without libraries.

I could see an argument for "no foreign aid while people in the US are starving."

So... when is the money formerly dedicated to foreign aid going to be sent to people in the US living in poverty? Where's the money to fix US schools, pay teachers what they're worth, provide health care?

We're all braced for a swarm of articles saying "Democrats won a lot of elections with a far-left, inclusive, anti-corporate agenda. Here's why that's problematic and they need to be more centrist."