I’m Late To This Whole Debacle But For The Record, I Have Been Messaged By People In Gaza Who Thought

Lazy days

website is still a work in progress but this link directs to the list of vetted fundraisers!!

Meet Leafette! They are the main character for my itch io Devtober game jam entry (currently) titled, Foliage Conversations. You can read more about Leafette on my blog, here!

Leafette is a resident of Foliage Falls, a cozy little town known for its beautiful lakes and rivers.

Although well-known by the locals, Leafette can be a bit shy around new people. And with a love for books, they are a familiar face at the local book store, the Cozy Reader.

[Image Description: On the left is a pen sketch of a character with a leaf for a head and a human body wearing a sweater and ripped jeans. On the right against a light brown background, is the pixel art drawing of the same character with a brown colored, leaf for a head. They are wearing red earrings with a dark green knit sweater that has light green patches on the shoulders, cuffs, hemline, and collar. They are wearing blue jeans with heart-shaped patches at the knees and red shoes. END ID]

Find me on!

My Game Dev Blog | Itch.io | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Twitch

Turns out with the Affordable Connectivity Program, ISPs CAN NOT shut off your internet.

Seriously. If you’re living in the US, and you’re at or below poverty line, sign up for the affordable connectivity program. it gives you like $30+ a month off your current internet bill and it makes it so they can’t disconnect you if you don’t pay them.

For artists and creatives that are indie game lovers, it’s always awesome to meet new artists and developers! I’ve found fellow artists and game devs by doing game jams (essentially, quick concept / prototype games traditionally made between 72 hours) since I first started making indie game.

I do all my game jams through itch.io, but there can also be in your local indie dev scene and other online platforms.

Game jams are also a great way to test how you work with others, problem solve, and lean how to communicate yourself. Builds confidence too!

I am being so serious when I say: if you have the financial and time privilege to get a group of friends together and make an indie project, PLEASE do. Indie games, indie animations, indie comics etc etc

the art industries are kind of in the shitter. It’s not so much because of AI (though that doesn’t help) but because studios just aren’t hiring people and funding projects anymore. People who’ve been in the industry for decades are finding themselves struggling, and once you have a mortgage or kids it’s harder to do something as risky as making something on your own.

completing projects is hard. it takes a lot of time and effort, and most people can’t afford it. so if you CAN afford to make art, even at the risk of no financial gain, I strongly encourage you to be as resilient as you can. We’re at a point where these industries are not going to turn around by themselves, and waiting for jobs to open up again in order to get experience and portfolio work might not be realistic.

people have been making art and telling stories longgggg before we were getting paid for it, and people aren’t going to stop just because no one has hired them to do so.

for everyone else: support indie artists when you can!!!! That person who made that cool indie game or youtube animation or webcomic might be doing this full time! your support might be the only reason they’re able to keep doing it.

and if you have already started an indie project: you’re so brave and I’m very proud of you!!! in fact, drop a link to it in the reblogs if you want! 👇

It's so sad that I am hearing of Bosnian genocide survivors talk about how they are triggered by the genocide denial happening around gaza. That the rhetoric that is being thrown around in the media and the rationalization for killing thousands and the talk of "let's be careful of what we call genocide. Let's wait before we call it that" is repetitive of what they were hearing when they were living through it

And Holocaust survivors who were protesting in DC and feeling the burden of having to come out and protest another genocide being done in their name except the media has completely sidelined them because it does not fit the narrative.

I have no other words except how terrible this is but it feels comforting in a weird way that genocide survivors are standing with Gaza. Who needs the acknowledgement of governments when you have them

the gangs pride flags

People & countries mentioned in the thread:

DR Congo - M23, Cobalt

Darfur, Sudan - International Criminal Court, CNN, BBC (Overview); Twitter Explanation on Sudan

Tigray - Human Rights Watch (Ethnic Cleansing Report)

the Sámi people - IWGIA, Euronews

Hawai'i - IWGIA

Syria - Amnesty International

Kashmir- Amnesty Summary (PDF), Wikipedia (Jammu and Kashmir), Human Rights Watch (2022)

Iran - Human Rights Watch, Morality Police (Mahsa/Jina Amini - Al Jazeera, Wikipedia)

Uyghurs - Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) Q&A, Wikipedia, Al Jazeera, UN Report

Tibetans - SaveTibet.org, United Nations

Yazidi people - Wikipedia, United Nations

West Papua - Free West Papua, Genocide Watch

Yemen - Human Rights Watch (Saudi border guards kill migrants), Carrd

Sri Lanka (Tamils) - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch

Afghans in Pakistan - Al Jazeera, NPR

Ongoing Edits: more from the notes / me

Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh/Azerbaijan (Artsakh) - Global Conflict Tracker ("Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict"), Council on Foreign Relations, Human Rights Watch (Azerbaijan overview), Armenian Food Bank

Baháʼís in Iran - Bahá'í International Community, Amnesty, Wikipedia, Minority Rights Group International

Kafala System in the Middle East - Council on Foreign Relations, Migrant Rights

Rohingya - Human Rights Watch, UNHCR, Al Jazeera, UNICEF

Montagnards (Vietnam Highlands) - World Without Genocide, Montagnard Human Rights Organization (MHRO), VOA News

Ukraine - Human Rights Watch (April 2022), Support Ukraine Now (SUN), Ukraine Website, Schools & Education (HRW), Dnieper River advancement (Nov. 15, 2023 - Ap News)

Reblogs with Links / From Others

Indigenous Ppl of Canada, Cambodia, Mexico, Colombia

Libya

Armenia Reblog 1, Armenia Reblog 2

Armenia, Ukraine, Central African Republic, Indigenous Americans, Black ppl (US)

Rohingya (Myanmar)

More Hawai'i Links from @sageisnazty - Ka Lahui Hawaii, Nation of Hawai'i on Soverignty, Rejected Apology Resolution

From @rodeodeparis: Assyrian Policy Institute, Free Yezidi

From @is-this-a-cool-url: North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA)

From @dougielombax & compiled by @azhdakha: Assyrians & Yazidis

West Sahara conflict

Last Updated: Feb. 19th, 2024 (If I missed smth before this, feel free to @ me to add it)

Finally finished this 😭