Sag-Aftra has voted overwhelmingly (98%) in favour of authorising a video game voice actor strike.

This does not mean they are currently striking, BUT means that if negotiations stall, they could strike at any time.

If they do, we need to stand behind striking workers. If this strike does go ahead, I suspect it will do so very soon.

Why? One of the studios mentioned by name in initial discussions was Insomniac, developers of the soon to release Spider-Man 2.

My gut says if they plan to strike they will likely do so before that game's release.

So, Final Fantasy 16 has accessibility settings like auto evade or single button combat, but as equippable accessory rings.

There are 3 accessory slots, meaning a max of 3 accessibility settings at once.

Those same slots are ALSO for regular character buff gear... So yeah, rather than a typical accessibility menu, you're limited in how many accessibility options you can use, AND have to trade out regular accessories to access it.

Not a fan.

Info from this Eurogamer preview: eurogamer.net/final-fantasy-…

I've now had the Steam Deck for about 24 hours.

If anyone has any specific questions they want answered, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer. Going to do my best to answer folks questions in this thread for ease.

It's certainly big and heavy for a handheld, but not uncomfortably so.

Weight may be a factor to those with chronic pain / muscle weakness, but for most it'll be comfortable enough.

While I wouldn't describe Elden Ring as an overall accessible game, I think it's important to note that there are a LOT of really nice quality of life changes made to the formula, which all make the game more accessible, less intimidating, and less frustrating than Dark Souls. Going to note a few of them as I play in repolies to this tweet.

Bosses now always have a checkpoint before them. It's not a full bonfire, but it allows for getting straight back to fighting the boss after a loss, rather than redoing a "boss run" to have another try.

Oh hey, I can finally talk about this.

I've been working on an illustrated children's book, titled Me and My Dysphoria Monster.

It's aimed at talking about gender dysphoria in child friendly language.

Artist @BurdHQ.

Releasing August 18th 2022 !!!

waterstones.com/book/me-and-my… The book will contain a parents / adults reference guide at the back with more detailed information.

The cover art in the prior tweet is the final cover art, but it may not have updated yet on some online retailers from our previous placeholder.

It's no secret that retail copies of the new Pokémon game are out in the wild after retailers started breaking street date.

With no review or even preview articles out, 5 days pre release, I think it's time for my spoiler light preview of my first 40 hours with a retail copy. So, how is PLA? It's the most I've enjoyed a new Pokémon game in years, and I say this as someone with 1K+ hours shiny hunting in every game this gen.

As an obsessive level Pokémon fan since the series inception, I'm in awe of this game.

It's not flawless, but it's ambitious.

Discount code for Who Hunts the Whale just dropped.

We're really near our funding goal, just 8% to go.

https://twitter.com/unbounders/status/1484553154045915142

Up to 96% funded, ciould today be the day?!

10% off code available as we push that last few % to funded!

So, The Guardian has written a story about The BBC removing Lily Cade from that transphobic article.

Not going to link it here, but want to talk about its contents.

Thread/ The piece describes that the BBC was "forced" to edit their article.

On one hand, suggests The Guardian don't see an issue with the original article.

On the other hand, acknowledgement that external pressure is what got us here is something. We applied pressure.

So, I want to talk a little about this interview snippet from Kathleen Stock, a noted anti trans activist.

And, in particular, I want to note how she sees The BBC and The Guardian's uncritical platforming as vital progress for the anti trans movement.

Thread/ A quick addressing of the anti trans views stock expresses in this interview.

She kicks it off by describing Trans Day of Remembrance, a sombre day of reflection by the trans community of those killed during the year, often denied identity in death, a "quasi-religeous" ceremony.

Okay, thought I was done for tonight, but it seems the BBC is starting to respond to some people who complained about the lack of "Lily Cade is a sex abuser" context.

It's in no way an acceptable response.

Thread/

https://twitter.com/christapeterso/status/1456005652166422531

They respond by naming the trans woman from Cade's story, who was previously unnamed and did not need to be named, and reiterating Lily Cade backed out of a scene with a trans woman (still not alledging she was coerced or pressured to go ahead).

Lily Cade, one of the interviewees in the transphobic BBC piece, who admitted to allegations of sexual abuse of cis lesbians, is openly advocating for the LITERAL violent genocide of ALL trans women.

YOU CANNOT DENY THIS IS PLATFORMING OF VIOLENT ANTI TRANS HATE!

https://twitter.com/christapeterso/status/1455575354572148740

Read her own words.

The BBC still claim at time of writing their piece was well researched and not transphobic, well sourced, and not biased.

Do not let the BBC quietly hope this story goes away.

Going along to this protest today while in London, protesting police violence against women, would be great to see others there if free.

https://twitter.com/SistersUncut/status/1455227773430140931

Won't be posting video from today's protest without permission given its anti cop nature, but will do my best to share what I safely can.

Archive link to avoid giving clicks, but lol it's hilarious reading The Times describe our "BBC, your article has real issues with anti trans bias it fails to address" open letter described as some amazingly great threat to journalism as a profession.

archive.md/2021.11.02-004… The Times completely misrepresents our open letter, downplaying it as "arguing those assaulted shouldn't be able to tell their stories".

They totally can, the issue is the stories are uncritically framed as reflecting on an entire minority group, without proper context.

Oh hey, I have some really cool news.

If you visit the Google Play store right now, and scroll a little, you should see ME recomending some of my favourite Android games to "Get Your Groove On" With.

A big thanks to Google for inviting me to be involved in this. I believe this is worldwide (I know US and UK)

For the next month, my game recommendations will be on the front page of the app store.

I had full say over which games I picked, and the reviews I wrote, but for transparency this was a paid opportunity.

In very positive news, it has been concluded that the Bell Tavistock case ruling unjustly impacted Gillick Competancy, creating a situation where trans youth were denied the self agency given to all other youth, and as such that ruling should be retracted.

https://twitter.com/Felix_F_Fern/status/1438854537511587849

In the UK, we have something called Gillick Competancy. It's the concept that someone under 16, if they can demonstrate an understanding of risks and positives, agree to medical treatment without parental consent.

Moved up to a double dose of my ADHD meds, Xaggatin XL (Concerta XL), as a person with ADHD and Autism duo today.

Having a very positive response. Very calm, reliably focused, and able to get into a creative mindset. No notable side effects, and no increased autism symptoms. Basically the same reaction I had on my starter dose, but more consistent, and less "maybe this is placebo?" in intensity.

Not having any of the increased sensory oversensitivity reaction some autistic people get, which was my big worry. Mainly just dry mouth.

I got a statement RE: lyric subs in True Colors.

"Due to licensing restrictions surrounding copyrighted lyrics, subtitles are unfortunately not available during the two sequences where Alex sings... We apologize for the lack of subtitle accessibility during these two sequences." I pointed out that including them in subtitles is an accessibility standard other publishers aim for.

"We will look into ways to improve this for future games across the portfolio"

I did suggest at the very least ensuring in future song title and original artists are mentioned.

Today's Access-Ability episode is going to be about Life is Strange: True Colors.

One thing I missed when making the video, but want to highlight here and in a pinned comment, is an issue with the subtitles.

When the main character sings a licensed song, the subs nope out. What I mean by this is that instead of stating the song lyrics the main charater is singing as she sings them, or even saying "Main character sings a cover of Creep", it simply says "Character Sings"