Baldur’s Gate 3 is amazing but I wish it had the equivalent of a session zero with safety tools. I am not advocating for censorship. I’m advocating that the better these studios get at emulating a real table top experience, the better they need to get at emulating being a responsible game master.

Shutting Down Feminist Frequency

After I made the conclusive decision that the time had come to close Feminist Frequency, my first fully-formed thought was: “Holy fuck!” We—that’s all of us who have been on this journey together—have done so much. We made changes to an industry that were desperately needed, shaking up the status quo and distributing content in the early days of video punditry. While we weren’t the first voices in the conversation about inclusion in gaming, we were part of building a community that meant more to its members than we could ever have anticipated. Seeing even more people take up this mantle and continue the work has been heartening; many people working within the industry, even people I have been critical of in the past, have supported and worked to create real change. So I know you’re asking: why now?

The best answer I can give is the honest truth: I’m exhausted.

Anita irrevocably changed how I viewed myself as a gamer. More specifically she changed how I thought about the people who make games, why games treat female/women the way they do, how those horrid defaults impacted the treatment of other underrepresented people.

There are times when one person can make a difference and Anita Sarkeesian is such a person. She didn’t stop with just herself. She built an organization and movement to carry the work forward. She walks the talk as so few people do. She changed the game of gaming for the better. I don’t think games like Horizon Zero Dawn would exist without her work.

At some point I’m going to have to accept just how much ADHD + C-PTSD has affected every part of my life. I’m working out how to share what I’m learning publicly without oversharing. There is a point where the cause/s becomes the focus instead of the important work of living in the present.

It is disheartening watching Florida lobotomize itself. We are witness to the modern crusades except we are invading and destroying our own people.

I would love to see Anchor reborn as an employee owned brewery. Here’s hoping they pull it off!

Anchor Employees Launch Bid to Rescue Iconic Brewery from Liquidation

“We are not asking for a handout or charity,” wrote Pedro de Sá, a business agent at International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6, which represents roughly 40 workers at the brewery. “All we want is a fair shot at being able to continue to do our jobs, make the beer we love, and keep this historic institution open. We do not want the brewery and brand we love to be sold off before we even had a chance.”

My friend Shawn sent me this professional soccer video along with this article. I won’t spoil it, just watch it!

Viral French Soccer Ad Subverts Gender Expectations

“Only les Bleus can give us these emotions,” words on the screen read, referring to the nickname for the French men’s national team. “But that’s not them you’ve just seen.”

Just double checking that crossposting to Mastodon is working after the server move.

I’m going to attempt moving Mastodon servers. It seems pretty straight-forward according to the official account migration docs and this video tutorial by Paul O’Malley.

My partner is on Masto.ai which is a much better fit for our values and what we want to support financially versus Mastodon Cloud.

Twitter has started paying creators like Andrew Tate and the Krassenstein brothers for generating ad revenue

Among those in Twitter’s payout pool was Andrew Tate, who tweeted that he received $20,379 under the new program…. The former pro kickboxer, who once tweeted that women should “bare [sic] some responsibility” for being raped…."

The other things Andrew Tate said in the messages are truly horrific. It is long past time I deleted the bird account and I’m ashamed this is what it took. I still have actual friends there but the majority of them are now also on Mastodon, Threads, and a few on Bluesky. Threads and Bluesky are also owned and/or funded by extremely problematic billionaires. Mastodon is currently the least worst option.

If you are staying on Twitter, I understand. I don’t make my living on Twitter and I don’t have family that is on Twitter only. I’m in a place where I can leave it and it will have little to no impact on my life.

Threads feels like it’s going to win and win fast. I have account there but I’m long past caring about the game they are playing. May it be a safer place for those that like and/or need it. I’m quite happy here on my quiet Micro.blog beach.