Levi
@rubeck.bsky.social
he/him // managing ed + Funeral Rites ed at Unwinnable, writer there and others // poet // http://linktr.ee/levirubeck ; http://dice.camp/@leaves
Gargoyles is such a fantastic example of the fact that you don't just have to keep recycling old IP if you want to build an audience. This cartoon emerged feeling so fully-formed and so confident in its storytelling that it remains a strong influence on fantasy animation to this day.
I've never seen such an effort to censor a document as I have the Amnesty International report on gender critical groups because of JK Rowling. They removed the report from the Wayback Machine and now I got a DMCA strike on my Google Drive for having it. It was deleted and removed from my account.
Episode 2 of Me Here To Do The Thinking is live. @ckunzelman.bsky.social and I continue to listen to Neil Young's discography. This time we're deep in territory where many Neil nerds fear to tread: The Geffen Years. Available here: www.patreon.com/posts/166891... (and in the usual podcast places)
You have been misled. It's a setting, and it rules. valerialoves.com/wages-of-sin...
Wages of Sin Gave Me a Midlife Crisis
Should I just run Mothership for the rest of my life?
valerialoves.com
My first for @unwinnable.com's website: @hellmaidengame.astralshiftpro.com brings complex female characters to a genre devoid of them Spoke to the @astralshiftpro.com team about their approach to female representation and how it helped shape their latest game. unwinnable.com/2026/08/18/h...
Hell Maiden Brings Complex Female Characters to a Genre Devoid of Them - Unwinnable
The idea is to paint the feminine with all its colors.
unwinnable.com
Bullet Points Monthly started 10 years ago. To mark a decade of the site, our editors--Yussef Cole, Reid McCarter, Astrid Anne Rose, and Ed Smith--looked at the state of the shooter. We also got nine contributors to do the same. bulletpointsmonthly.com/2026/08/19/s...
Sharing this one because we don't read enough about what's happening in the lives of trans people - this is thorough and tragic.
Opinion | What’s Happening in Kansas Should Alarm Us All (Gift Article)
Is Kansas just the beginning?
nytimes.com
The way Astrid writes, I love reading it even if I haven't played the game and don't know anything about the game.
Bullet Points@bpmonthly.bsky.social · 2w agoOur Zero Parades: For Dead Spies issue comes to a close with an article by @strida.bsky.social. "Everything is a reference, a splinter of reality waiting for you to pull it free." bulletpointsmonthly.com/2026/08/13/s...
Our Zero Parades: For Dead Spies issue comes to a close with an article by @strida.bsky.social. "Everything is a reference, a splinter of reality waiting for you to pull it free." bulletpointsmonthly.com/2026/08/13/s...
Absolute must read from Christopher Wiggins here - don't just re-post, click through and read the nuanced portrait of trans constitituents of Vindman who feel caught between a rock and a hard place, forced to choose between a Republican or a callous, anti-trans Democrat.
Christopher Wiggins@cwnewser.bsky.social · 2w agoSCOOP: He was one of a handful of Democrats who joined Republicans in May to pass an anti-trans bill through the House. Last night, instead of listening to trans constituents at a meeting that I attended, Eugene Vindman got angry. It went downhill from there. www.advocate.com/politics/nat...
The fact this story has been mostly ignored by national politics is disgusting www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Idaho pushed anti-trans laws for years. Then a teen died.
The life and death of May Pollard, 16, provides a window into the tragic effect that legislation and political rhetoric have had on trans people in America.
nbcnews.com
Hello hello. I made a "Why Do You Adventure?" companion to my latest adventure - "What Happened to the Silver Spoon Boys?". You get to roleplay an adventuring reporter. (I lol-ed after typing that and I shall leave it at that).
As a reminder, in 2020, more than 60 people accused Warren Ellis of grooming and sexual impropriety, coming together to create the website somanyofus.com. In its most recent update, in 2023, the site posted: "To the best of our knowledge, Warren Ellis took none of the steps we hoped he would."
An uneven end to a stylish season. www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/s...
'Sugar' Season 2 Finale: Assimilation Blues
*
pajiba.com
"We all rationalize the trauma of love in different ways." @quiltedpoints.net looks at the anxiety and violent rupture that comes with love: buff.ly/IgcsLKH
Traumatic Encounters, Enduring Realities: Masaaki Yuasa & Restless, Subversive Love - Unwinnable
We all rationalize the trauma of love in different ways.
unwinnable.com
And in perfect alignment, here's the brilliant Dr. @leahstokes.bsky.social reminding us that THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS NOT DEAD. People like to say it is out of that habit of all or nothing thinking, which in this case means if the IRA is not unfolding exactly as planned it must be wreckage.
No, the Democrats' Big Climate Law is Not Dead.
Plus, new research shows that its clean energy manufacturing boom benefitted Democrats in the 2024 election.
electricnotes.news
"I think the one-two punch of Nolan’s The Odyssey and Wilson’s review gives us red meat (or vegan alternative) and we are squandering it." @unwinnabledavid.bsky.social wants critics to start embracing the mess between gold and shit: unwinnable.com/2026/08/06/e...
Everything Gold is Shit - Unwinnable
In short, it is the peak of the form.
unwinnable.com
I would like to see more companies admit this - being a public company no longer means running a successful, thriving business. It strictly means delivering growth to investors, every single quarter, who do not care at all about the product the company sells or the people who produce it.
Hannah 'Pichy' Stockmann@hpichystockmann.bsky.social · 3w agoSavage.
new Stop Caring piece from yours truly in which I try to unpack my complicated feelings on Zero Parades, Disco Elysium, and the ZA/UM debacle while doing a wee bit of criticism. It would be so kind of you to read and share. www.stopcar.ing/this-sacred-...
This Sacred Body / This Bloody Mind
A Zero Parades review for Dead Spies.
stopcar.ing
BrooklynVegan, Alt Press, et al being unceremoniously shut down by a company owned by the guys from Good Charlotte that’s also owned by Live Nation is a plot that would happen in a direct to video sequel to Richie Rich.
I was thinking recently how long it has been since doing a direct response to a piece of games writing and lo and behold something got me worked up enough to post. breakingarrows.ghost.io/reading-game...
Reading Games Writing: Resident Evil Requiem review by Giovanni Colantonio
less posting and more conversation This article is part of my series on responding to games writing and is a good faith attempt at starting a dialogue, not a personal attack or to feed the chuds on t...
breakingarrows.ghost.io
New one from me @unwinnable.com about Home (for fans of Blue Prince and/or Piranesi) tinyurl.com/bd5u9nzf
The Homes We Assemble Inside and Out - Unwinnable
An old home so full of the past that it feels like a choking fog.
tinyurl.com
Since Big Walk is bringing up the topic and a lot of you are posting about it, I invite you all to participate in this essay jam and instead Blog About It 🫡
Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · last mo.Good morning readers and writers! We are starting a new essay jam today that'll run until August 19! We're calling it the Blogs of the Round Table: Friendslop Jam! Check out the details here: critical-distance.com/2026/07/20/b...
@rikiwilchins.bsky.social 2026 Jul Markey at debate: "We should have been loving those kids. There's only 12 trans athletes in the whole of the NCAA. We should have been embracing them. Instead, what Congressman Moulton did was he threw them under the bus.” Hope this guy is contagious...
Where does Stu even find these cover images? This month's Exploits covers media like the World Cup, Life Is Strange and OBEX. Buy: buff.ly/qEsgZtN Subscribe: buff.ly/XdxYOYQ Read @bensailer.bsky.social on console merch in a world without physical games: buff.ly/AoYqkoU
Well, it’s invoicing day, and since they’re really apparently not going to pay me for something I wrote for them two months ago, I guess today is the day to post about how @vulture.com fucks over its film freelancers. Long (sorry) thread, with receipts:
Vulture@vulture.com · 3mo agoThere are 118 feature films, plus galas, talks, podcast recordings, and more at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Our guide to the movies and events worth lining up for.