1. Horrifying ruling out of the 4th Circuit.
An all-Republican 4th Circuit panel has just ruled that states can compel trans adults to "appreciate their sex" by enacting care bans.
It even directly says that trans adult care bans are legal in the ruling.
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Obligatory MOaS screenshot dump since it's been two months since the last one
New blog update!
-I talk a little about Villain Sword II
-I talk A LOT about Motor Oil and Sword (working title)
-I made a lot of fun little changes throughout the site
alexandrah.neocities.org/blog/posts/2...
Ugh, bummer! Get well soon
The submission deadline for @farawaytimes.bsky.social's Cookie Cutter RM2K3 Jam has closed, meaning I can finally announce...
DUNGEONFEST!
A two-day streaming event where I'll play as many entries as I can from the FIFTY-SEVEN submissions!
SAT 7TH 12:00 GMT
SUN 8TH 12:00 GMT
twitch.tv/jdubdotexe
Demon's Keep by @farawaytimes.bsky.social is so well done. Features minimalist design while still completing a satisfying mechanical and narrative arc in just an hour. What a treat!
farawaytimes.itch.io/demons-keep
they saw someone post this and were like "oooooooh we should get one of those"
My internal DJ still plays the soundtrack. The way the narrative branches based on player behavior, not dialogue choices, is so cool. So glad to hear it's as cool as I remember it being
It really was one of the most influential things I ever played, for a lot of the reasons you described, and has always been the benchmark to me for "solo freeware indie masterwork."
Wait, this link is better, it goes straight to the itch page proper:
alchiggins.itch.io/villain-swor...
Slowly making my way through Cookie Cutter jam entries. Keep it Aubergine is *hilarious* - I don't remember the last time a game made me laugh this much
bjorknfork.itch.io/keep-it-aube...
New game! Villain Sword II: Ash Returns. Created for the RM2k3 Cookie Cutter Jam. itch.io/jam/cookie-c...
It seems all Kansas-issued trans drivers' licenses are invalid, effective tomorrow
It is now illegal for trans people to drive a car until they surrender their license at a DMV (that most will need to drive to) and have it reissued with the wrong gender marker
This was never about woman's sports
Had a blast with @alexandrah.bsky.social's Jailbird Nocturne! Great writing and crunchy fights and a wonderful hand-crafted style, there's just tons to love here alchiggins.itch.io/jailbird-noc...
Sorry for being a bummer haha
The bad news is that elections will eternally be a back and forth of swing voters swinging. But I try to remember that the back and forth is just the context for the things we *can* do to make the world a better place. We can make off-presidencies less bad
I will definitely be cramming on Sunday; thank you
(And there are exceptions to the "campaigns/candidates don't matter" rule - the televised debate between Nixon and JFK was famously decisive, and ironically, Hilary's debate performance in 2016 actually caused a huge bump in the polls in her favor, but those were rare exceptions)
But more generally beyond those three factors, the biggest predictors of electoral success have more to do with historical context and less to do with the candidates themselves, frustratingly enough.
If the economy's bad, it's bad to be the incumbent. Otherwise, voters tend to favor incumbent candidates (especially in local elections), but if two non-incumbent candidates go head-to-head, voters tend to go for the party that doesn't currently hold the office.
I'm rusty at this point and can only remember so much and explain so well, but the biggest factors include the economy, incumbency, and in/out party status.
The main takeaway from the poli sci literature on campaigns is that campaigns and campaign spending are some of the *least* decisive factors in an election. It's one of the things I wish people understood better!
The Queer Games Bundle is officially disbanding. There will not be another bundle this year. Thank you for your support over the years.
Please continue to help each other. A community can only exist if it helps each other survive in a meaningful way.
Read our final statements here:
energy costs, etc., I still believe these technologies as they are currently implemented should be rejected for inculcating rent-seeking mentalities."
"It took me a long time to recognize how vibe coding and the culture of pro-LLM people are repudiating the very idea of community, and I find this to be the most convincing argument against them. Even if people have figured out how to make LLMs not spread misinformation, found a way to decrease
"While I see LLMs as just another method to depress wages, I'm beginning to see another aspect that is just as insidious: it's deeply antisocial.... Current LLMs encourage users to depend on their services and only them."
LRT, so many good quotes: "I don't think [gen AI is] simply bad optics but an attack on how we make art in creative communities together."
LLM Slop Will Make Us Antisocial - Ruminations on IFComp 2025
mimidoshima.neocities.org/main/posts/2...
i wrote about recent events in the interactive fiction community and how it emboldened me to fight against vibe coders and LLM slop.
Oops I'm running a game jam! Make an RPG using pre-made maps; figure out how to give it your own spin without changing any of the tiles. Feel free to join in on the fun! itch.io/jam/cookie-c...
I disassembled my PS5 controller to clean the sensor and now the dift's coming back again after just 3 months. They're comically terrible controllers
