Eldritch Mlems

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/23565790

Hello! I'm currently working on a research paper for my English composition course, and we were given free reign on the topic. I decided to do my topic on the history of queerness in gaming, and I'm not only talking about queer characters, but also the gaming community too. So far, my major sources focus on things like:

• Demographics of games with queer characters (which identities, created in what country, what year was the game made, etc.)
• I want to try to find more stuff about trans, enby, and ace characters as I feel their representation is a little underepresented
• Opinions of queer and non-queer gamers on queer representation in games
• How fan interpretations, fanon, and external content (like social media posts) is important to gaming too
• What games do right and wrong with representation, especially when it comes to "non-gendered" character creators
• How localizations/translations are sometimes used to censor queerness. Also about how queerness can be seen differently around the world.
• Some info on Gamergate, but that's not a major focus of the paper
• A pinch of info about feminist gaming, but not necessarily lesbian-women-only gaming

I want to make sure I'm hitting what people find important to explain and teach to others, as the goal of this paper is to be read by anyone who's curious to learn. So if there's any topic you deem extremely important that shouldn't be missed, please tell me! Also, I'm a little more knowledgeable about JRPGs compared to popular western games, so character recommendations to bring up are appreciated greatly.

I plan to promote a survey about this stuff later on, I just need to get my questions together :). I will crosspost this to other gaming or queer communities, so you might see me there too!

This post is also on Reddit, although due to it being a new account I'm going to struggle to gain traction there with the low karma bans :(

Hello! I'm currently working on a research paper for my English composition course, and we were given free reign on the topic. I decided to do my topic on the history of queerness in gaming, and I'm not only talking about queer characters, but also the gaming community too. So far, my major sources focus on things like:

• Demographics of games with queer characters (which identities, created in what country, what year was the game made, etc.)
• I want to try to find more stuff about trans, enby, and ace characters as I feel their representation is a little underepresented
• Opinions of queer and non-queer gamers on queer representation in games
• How fan interpretations, fanon, and external content (like social media posts) is important to gaming too
• What games do right and wrong with representation, especially when it comes to "non-gendered" character creators
• How localizations/translations are sometimes used to censor queerness. Also about how queerness can be seen differently around the world.
• Some info on Gamergate, but that's not a major focus of the paper
• A pinch of info about feminist gaming, but not necessarily lesbian-women-only gaming

I want to make sure I'm hitting what people find important to explain and teach to others, as the goal of this paper is to be read by anyone who's curious to learn. So if there's any topic you deem extremely important that shouldn't be missed, please tell me! Also, I'm a little more knowledgeable about JRPGs compared to popular western games, so character recommendations to bring up are appreciated greatly.

I plan to promote a survey about this stuff later on, I just need to get my questions together :). I will crosspost this to other gaming or queer communities, so you might see me there too!

This post is also on Reddit, although due to it being a new account I'm going to struggle to gain traction there with the low karma bans :(

As laws banning trans people from sports have proliferated—and become a central pillar of President Trump’s administration—the derby community has stood steadfast in their view that everyone has a place on the derby track. In the hours, days, and weeks after the executive order, the line “You Can Skate With Us” appeared in social media posts by roller derby leagues across the U.S., from the Bradentucky Bombers in Southwest Florida; to South Sound Roller Derby in Lacey, Washington; to Salt City Roller Derby in Syracuse, New York. High Altitude Roller Derby of Flagstaff, Arizona, posted that “Roller Derby is for everyone. Please, come skate with us. You’re safe here.” A coalition of roller derby players in Minnesota penned an open letter condemning attempts to take trans women out of sports. The “You Can Skate With Us” movement went beyond the boundaries of the U.S., with leagues from Canada, Australia, England and Finland rolling in, vowing resistance to the States’ new executive order. As individual leagues weighed in, the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, the governing body for 400 derby leagues across the world, reaffirmed their policy of allowing “any individual of a marginalized gender” to skate on a WFTDA team “despite the U.S. administration’s newest Executive Order,” and promised resources for teams concerned by the trans sports bans.

A community-organized sport that receives no federal funding, derby should be safe from the Trump administration’s recent executive action. But the sport’s relative isolation doesn’t immunize it against all trans bans. The Long Island Roller Rebels are now in the second year of a lawsuit against Nassau County over a law that bans women’s sports teams from using county facilities if their team includes trans women. Most trans sports bans start in the context of schools or federal funding, but Nassau County’s law includes any sport that uses a park or recreational space—the next step, perhaps, in an ever-evolving landscape of anti-trans laws. “It’s all the more important that an adult league like the Roller Rebels is pushing back on this before it’s normalized,” argues Gabriella Larios, a staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union who is litigating the Roller Rebels’ lawsuit.

I went looking for her and found her snoozing under the blankets on the bed. She did not enjoy the interruption!

Yesterday, the Internet Archive submitted its response to the record labels’ recent motion, which seeks to add an additional 493 sound recordings to their lawsuit against the Internet Archive for preserving 78rpm sound recordings.

The Internet Archive’s position is clear: the labels have been engaged in a long-running game of “hide-the-ball” and their motion to file a second amended complaint should be denied.

Archived

Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents across Europe since the invasion of Ukraine three years ago, according to data collected by The Associated Press.

They allege the disruption campaign is an extension of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war, intended to sow division in European societies and undermine support for Ukraine.

[...]

The alleged disruption has a double purpose, James Appathurai, the NATO official responsible for the alliance’s response to such threats, told the AP.

One is to create “political disquiet” and undermine citizens’ support for their governments and the other is to “undercut support for Ukraine,” said Appathurai, deputy assistant secretary-general for Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber.

[...]

The cases are varied, and the largest concentrations are in countries that are major supporters of Ukraine.

Some incidents had the potential for catastrophic consequences, including mass casualties, as when packages exploded at shipping facilities in Germany and the U.K. Western officials said they suspected the packages were part of a broader plot by Russian intelligence to put bombs on cargo planes headed to the U.S. and Canada.

[...]

European authorities are investigating several cases of damage to infrastructure under the Baltic Sea, including to a power cable linking Estonia and Finland. Finnish authorities detained a ship, suspected of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to avoid sanctions, after that cable and others were damaged.

When a fake French Defense Ministry website claimed citizens were being called up to fight in Ukraine, a French minister denounced it as Russian disinformation. German authorities suspect Russia was behind a campaign to block up scores of car tailpipes ahead of national elections, according to a European intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

[...]

Countries have always spied on their enemies and long waged propaganda campaigns to further their interests abroad. But since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has become “bolder,” hitting the West with sabotage, vandalism and arson in addition to the tactics it previously used, including killings and cyberattacks, said Elisabeth Braw, an expert on the attacks at the Atlantic Council in Washington.

“The way you can weaken a country today is not by invading it,” she said.

China has also been accused of espionage and cyber operations in Europe, and The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian authorities were responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in 2022. Kyiv has denied this.

“Multiple countries engage in hybrid operations,” said David Salvo, managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund. “Russia is the overwhelming culprit in Europe.”

[...]

Some articles to those that prefer only to read, but the video is a really good analysis of the situation and shows how a healthy discussion around the subject should be conducted:

• https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/03/11/natalee-b-fitness-the-girls-spot/
• https://www.indy100.com/news/the-girls-spot-women-only-gym-trans-2671352416

It’s an informative and educative video around a specific case that showcases how misogyny can also be expressed in the form of transphobia and how the fear of aggression might lead to unfortunate and harmful decisions.

More explicitly, it’s about the plans to open a women-only gym that were inclusive of all women, but that changed when the threats and fear of men invading that space pretending to be women poisoned the ideal.

I believe the video is being fair in presenting the point of view of someone that seems to genuinely want to do the right thing and is being transphobic in the process.

Archived

[...]

28 European countries have raised concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet in their joint statement at the ongoing 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council on 20 March 2025. The joint statement was read by honourable Miroslaw Broilo, Permanent Representative of Poland to the UN Office in Geneva.

The joint statement was issued by 28 European Countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Honourable Miroslaw Broilo, in his oral statement noted, “We are concerned about the situation in China, in particular in Tibet and Xinjiang (East Turkistan) and the treatment of Human Rights defenders, lawyers and Journalists. China must refrain from Transnational Repression.”

In their written submission, the 28 European countries have reiterated their concerns about “the very serious human rights situation in China” and have urged China to “abide by its obligations under national law, including its own Constitution, and international law, to respect, protect and fulfil the rule of law and human rights for all.”

[...]

There have been a staggering 1,614 recorded attacks on Ukrainian schools up to the end of last year says the report from the UN human rights office OHCHR – part of a legacy of death, injury, disability and family separation.

Children’s educational attainment level has plummeted during the unrelenting hostilities, “diminishing their future educational path and ability to realize their full potential in employment and beyond.”

Furthermore, children living in the four regions annexed by Russia in breach of international law, are “especially vulnerable” following the imposition of a Russian school curriculum.

Propaganda exercise [in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia]

“Military-patriotic training is prioritised, and children are exposed to war propaganda,” Liz Throssell of the Office for Human Rights told journalists in Geneva on Friday.

“Children are also completely restricted from accessing education in the Ukrainian language and have been imposed with Russian citizenship,” she continued.

The horrifying impact on Ukraine’s youngest extends way beyond the classroom. As the report unveils, a verified 669 children were killed and 1,833 injured since February 2022, with the actual numbers likely much higher.

With hundreds of thousands of internally displaced and close to two million children living outside the country as refugees, many of them separated from a parent, High Commissioner Volker Türk said “their rights have been undermined in every aspect of life, leaving deep scars, both physical and psychosocial.”

[...]

Wood is a precious raw material. In Sweden, the packaging industry is destroying more and more old-growth forests to make toilet paper or cardboard. Biologists warn these ancient woodlands will no longer be able to help protect ecosystems and the climate.

Archived

TLDR: Mainly good news as power generation from natural gas has dropped significantly, largely replaced by renewables, despite rise in electricity prices during the energy crisis has partly discouraged both industrial and residential consumers from switching to electric alternatives. Energy-intensive industries reduced gas consumption either despite economic challenges, but are still struggling.

[...]

Electricity generation from natural gas has fallen by 26% since 2021 [...] While some initial switching in 2022 involved coal or oil, renewables have been the main replacement, with their share of total power generation increasing from 39% in 2021 to nearly 50% in 2024. The decrease in total electricity generation has also contributed to lower gas demand, as the EU’s overall electricity consumption has declined since 2021.

[...]

While the overall manufacturing industry has remained stable (-1% since 2021), energy-intensive sectors such as metallurgy (-11%), non-metallic minerals (-15%), and chemicals (-10%) have seen sharp declines, largely due to high energy costs affecting competitiveness.

[...]

sharp rise in electricity prices during the energy crisis, which has partly discouraged both industrial and residential consumers from switching to electric alternatives. Additionally, low economic and demographic growth and the decline of energy-intensive industries have contributed to an overall reduction in energy demand, slowing down the need for electrification. This suggests that, in the short term, electrification is not yet driving the decarbonisation of final energy consumption at the scale needed to replace natural gas entirely.

Preparations are under way for a rocket test flight in Norway that could make history and give Europe greater independence from the market leader in orbital launches, the United States.

Isar Aerospace says it is planning to launch on 24 March between 12.30pm and 3.30pm CET, weather permitting.

Colobus monkeys are born white and then transition into the black-and-white coloring as they get a bit older.

The ermine, also known as a short-tailed weasel, has a body well suited to chasing down its prey. Long and slim, with short legs, they pursue smaller prey through grasses, up trees, across rivers, in snow and directly into their tunnels and dens.

They can take down prey as much as ten times their weight, including rabbits, hares and woodchucks!