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therisingtithes.bsky.social
šŸ‡¹šŸ‡¹ Poet, SFF writer, TTRPG designer. Poet Laureate of Worldcon 2025 in Seattle. Podcaster @speculate.bsky.social & @skiffyandfanty.com . Author of CAN YOU SIGN MY TENTACLE? and other things. Thank God for words. http://www.brandonobrien.xyz/
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ANNOUNCING: the 2nd annual unofficial 5/5 @itch.io rating day! today on 5/5, take 5 minutes to login & give 5 ⭐ to your fav indie TTRPGs & other games on itch.io! star ratings give a HUGE algorithm boost! you can skip entering text, only creators see it! support your fav creators! #itchioRatingDay

www.rascal.news/are-these-bi... The new edition of @therisingtithes.bsky.social's column asks whether these big beautiful RPG books are actually beautiful enough to earn a spot on your shelves and metaphorical coffee tables.

the fact that racists will give other racists hundreds of dollars in congratulations for their racism (and even make their donations as racist dogwhistles) because racism gives them joy is one reason I made the non-game 'Shut Up (and Give a Person of Colour $10)' therisingtithes.itch.io/shut-up

Check out the new Storybundle featuring African SF. You can get Fairwood Press's SHOGGOTHS IN TRAFFIC by @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social and a whole bunch of other great titles! Head over to: storybundle.com/scifi The African SF Collection Bundle - Curated by Eugen Bacon

OPERATIVE TSUNAMI CONFIRMED LISTENING ON ALL CHANNELS. AWAITING FURTHER TRANSMISSION… #MayThe4thBeWithYou

Awesomeness right here! Stories by @nalohop.bsky.social , @nuzo.bsky.social , @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social, @wtalabi.bsky.social, and more! Just 21 days. $5 for 4 whole books, $20 for all. @storybundle.bsky.social, @meerkatpress.bsky.social, @rdspress.bsky.social, @sauutiverse.bsky.social šŸ’ž

My short story collection Shoggoths in Traffic is in this amazing bundle of great books at Story Bundle of African and Diasporic fiction. It’s a super awesome deal, check it all out!

My collection "Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions" is included in this awesome story bundle of African SF. Get your summer reading!

If you want to subscribe to @rascalnews.bsky.social and are in the global south (or can't afford a full subscription) this link is for 50% off a full year's membership to Rascal! www.rascal.news/worldwide-an...

this is notably a terrible time to think about the fact that almost all, if not every single one, of the Kamen Rider wikis on the internet are operated on Fandom

13 wonderful books in this StoryBundle, each one chock full of wonderful stories from across the African continent and throughout the diaspora—and CAN YOU SIGN MY TENTACLE? is one of them! Definitely check this out!

wait what's this about giant bomb?

It’s absolutely vital that we support independent media. Please seek out sites like @aftermath.site, @404media.co, @remapradio.bsky.social, and @rascalnews.bsky.social and, if you can, sign up for a paid subscription. Pick up a paid sub for your favourite podcast or newsletter. Media is dying.

doom and gloom aside, we just recently committed to publishing even more freelance work as part of our subscriber drive, and we’re (finally) gonna post an actual pitch guide next week. for now, though, hit up [email protected] if you’ve got a cool idea. our rates are pretty good

I just need to say that I am who I am because @charliehall.bsky.social took a chance on me writing about actual play on Polygon. Rascal wouldn't exist without those first articles. Every founder of Rascal has written for Polygon under Charlie. The tabletop industry owes so much to him.

"gaming information category" seems suspiciously devoid of journalism, reporting, investigations, and opinions. you know. the stuff people want to read on a news site??

Rascal is small, but we will do everything we can to support the freelance tabletop writers who suddenly lost a platform and source of income. info@rascalDOTnews Or hit up any of us in DMs.

If anyone who wrote about tabletop for Polygon has a pitch, reach out to Rascal. We'll make something happen with the budget we have.

What just happened to Polygon just seems to keep happening in the gaming news space, so this is a very good reminder to support these writers in any way they currently need, & support the indie, worker-led spaces that have previously come from layoffs just like this one. kotaku.com/polygon-sold...

Okay, of the first ep of Genius Game, I will say this: * I am very glad that this first episode kept the walk-ins; I hope that continues. * I called it that they would rather lean on Tennant's charisma than BandageFace-like antics, but I do hope that some layer of mystery to his host persona.

Today's fleeting joy in the midst of frustration: pulled an Immersive Rare Guzma on PokƩmon TCG Pocket, and to be honest, I kinda expected someone to start rapping.

I was going to post this article this weekend but Duolingo's recent doubling down on replacing humans with generative AI pushed me to get it out sooner. Here's a list of amazing apps for learning Japanese that DON'T use generative AI! #cancelDuolingo jtalkonline.com/japanese-stu...

Cool. Nothing going on between the lines at all. Not like there's anti-immigration policy in the party's manifesto. Not like the party leader is well known for anti-Venezuelan-migrant rhetoric. Not like the security plan wants to turn every neighbourhood into a gated community. Nope. This is fine. šŸ˜‘

The thing this article does not attempt to qualify is what Asteria means by ā€˜ethical’. Even if the dataset is provably entirely creator-owned and recompensated, the question most people will ask will simply convert to, ā€œisn’t it cheaper to hire a CGI artist and a voice actor instead?ā€

I am slowly discovering that yesterday’s news has in fact robbed me of all productivity. I want to say I know better. But my body knows something else.

I don’t get it. I was afraid this would still happen, but… I don’t get it.

The obvious hard part is that I specifically would like any organisation that would act on a comprehensive gender policy, and offer protections for queer and trans folk, but that's the real work. We vote to make room. It's like defrosting the chicken--the real cooking comes afterward, with effort.

New newsletter--about finishing season one of Andor, voting, and being afraid of what I can or cannot do: brandonobrien.xyz/one-way-out/