Brian Ashford

Brian Ashford

@brianbloodaxe.bsky.social

Role-player, husband, parent. Woke PoS. He/him. Writer and designer of RPGs at Memories of Sunshine https://rpgtrader.com/creator/138/memories-of-sunshine Staff at Ancient Robot Games in Edinburgh. ominosity.wordpress.com

1.6K followers767 following7K posts

Brian Ashford reposted

morag
@mordant.bsky.social

Look, I know all the reasons we got here, but we really need to start seriously thinking about what we do in a world where The Markets punish whole countries for voting for decency, compassion, and fairness. We must stop pretending the capitalist machine is an objective, value neutral force.

Lewis Wade 🗃️@wadehistory.bsky.social

It's very, very telling, I think, that the markets are so concerned about the pro-democracy incumbent winning

ft.comLula faces a fiscal reckoning after Brazil’s market routConcerns about management of economy trigger worst day for currency in more than 25 years

Brian Ashford reposted

ToonHive
@toonhive.bsky.social

China’s first AI-generated theatrical film, ‘Sanxingdui: Future Past’, has bombed at their domestic box office, only making $121,000 USD against a budget of $1.5M USD. In contrast, the crudely animated ‘Niu Lai’ made nearly $10M USD against a budget of $200-500 USD.

Brian Ashford reposted

Gareth Hanrahan
@mytholder.bsky.social

One advantage of writing an adventure that retraces the history of the gaming hobby is that I get to be *extremely* petty about very obscure things that have annoyed me for thirty-something years.

Brian Ashford reposted

George Monbiot
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social

Bolsonaro's loss is not just a loss for Bolsonaro. It's a loss for Trump. For Musk. For Milei. For Netanyahu. For Farage. For Meta and Zuckerberg. For the meat barons, the fossil fuel corporations, and the rest of the neocolonial looters. And it is a massive win for humanity and the living planet.

Brian Ashford reposted

videah θΔ
@videah.net

Ofcom published a report today that pretty much declares the Online Safety Act a complete failure

Brian Ashford reposted

Bruno Dies
@brunodias.dev

Genuinely I don't know that it comes across to people who haven't been here to watch how almost unbelievable this was, just people taking something that looked impossible and dragging it kicking and screaming all the way to inevitability.

Brian Ashford reposted

Nadia Zaboura
@nadiazaboura.bsky.social

„Solidarity is how fascism loses“. Act appropriately.

Brad Reed@bwreed.bsky.social

Here's Lula celebrating tonight with Erika Hilton, a transgender politician who led the drive to end the six-day work week in Brazil. Erika showed workers solidarity, they showed her solidarity back. Solidarity is how fascism loses.

Brian Ashford reposted

crybirb
@crybirb.bsky.social

THIS IS FOR THE GRINGOS WHO FOLLOW HERE (I love you) Peter Thiel bought the biggest TV presenter here to try to overturn the elections. Mark Zuckerberg and Meta actively sabotaged the left wing president. Trump and Marco Rubio not only threatened the country, they also actively with proof-

Brian Ashford reposted

lastpositivist.bsky.social
@lastpositivist.bsky.social

Brazil going the way of South Korea. Basically around the world women are desperately trying to keep power out of the hands of incredibly stupid fascistic grifters while men keep trying to hand it over. Men are an embarrassing cringe gender.

Jo Wolff@jowolff.bsky.social

Incredible gender difference in voting intention in Brazil.

Brian Ashford reposted

Anne Applebaum
@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

In one day, two politicians - Bolsonaro in Brazil and Vucic in Serbia - with ties to Trump have lost surprise elections thanks to high turnout. The rise of the international far-right is not inevitable.

Brian Ashford reposted

Greg Pak
@gregpak.net

None of us should forget this. Meta should be subjected to corporate death penalty and permanently broken up into small pieces.

This post is unavailable.

Brian Ashford reposted

David Hutin Photo
@davidhutinphoto.bsky.social

Les militants fascistes ont attaqués des manifestants rue de la Loge sous les yeux de la police, quand les manifestants ont répliqués, la police a chargé pour les protéger et les miliciens ont frappés les gens à terre ! #Montpellier #24octobre #ViolencesPolicieres @info.gouv.fr

Brian Ashford reposted

Evangeline Sorrel
@forestoath.bsky.social

"We have to censor pride pins or people yell at us online" regulate online spaces then. Dont post to x. Stand up to them regardless because youre an organisation? No, of course its a blatent excuse for transphobic censoring.

Brian Ashford reposted

Graham Walmsley ➡ Adventure X
@grahamwalmsley.bsky.social

It's lovely to see Cosmic Dark in this list, alongside two other games I've heard good things about.

Heart of the Deernicorn@heartofthedeernicorn.com

Here are the top three scariest games we carry (in my humble opinion)! Just in time for spooky season. All these games and more are available on our website, the link is in our bio! #spookyseason #horrorgame #ttrpg #ttrpgtok #ttrpgcommunity

Brian Ashford reposted

Leicester Gazette
@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *
Brian Ashford
@brianbloodaxe.bsky.social

I'm not exactly sure but I think: 1 Basic D&D 2 TMNT & OS 3 Paranoia 2e 4 Heroes Unlimited 5 Chill 2e

Indie Game Reading Club@indiegamereadingclub.com

Oh man... This is like almost 50 years ago! But I think it was: 1. D&D B/X 2. Traveller 3. Top Secret 4. Skyrealms of Jorune 5. Empire of the Petal Throne

Brian Ashford reposted

Nash
@radiodeadair.com

Replying to @radiodeadair.com

If steady regular income that's one of the bedrocks of your business is insufficient to pay off the people you borrowed from in order to buy that business, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BORROWED THAT MONEY YOU FUCKING WEASEL TIT

Brian Ashford reposted

Thanda ✨
@thandaart.com

It’s important to realize that we, the players, are no longer the customers of video game companies. We’re just a source of money. The real customers are the investors, and no matter what, the companies need to keep them happy and show them that their investments are paying off.

Aftermath@aftermath.site

Electronic Arts closing BioWare, laying off hundreds: aftermath.site/electronic-art...

Brian Ashford reposted

Xander's Skyscape
@wellmanneredxs.bsky.social

Here's Sir David Attenborough on why this huge, heart-shaped piece of the UK in Northumberland is so important. A chance like this to save massive space for nature won't come again. £11,000 donated yesterday, £1.37m still to go by the end of the month - the time is now! 💚 #conservation #ukwildlife

youtube.comSir David Attenborough on the Rothbury EstateYouTube video by The Wildlife Trusts
Xander's Skyscape@wellmanneredxs.bsky.social

One final sprint to save a landscape - £28m secured, £2m to go! Donation matching until the end of the month - the Wildlife Trusts are so close to buying the largest chunk of the UK offered for sale in 30 yrs. Landscape-scale protection, to hold a 40-mile wide nature corridor together for wildlife.

wildlifetrusts.orgDonate to Secure The Rothbury Estate | The Wildlife TrustsStretching over 3,800 hectares, the Rothbury Estate in Northumberland is abundant with opportunity. It’s the largest continuous area of land to appear on the market in 50 years. Its sale creates a uni...

Brian Ashford reposted

Kieron Gillen
@kierongillen.bsky.social

Replying to @kierongillen.bsky.social

Anyway - it's my long way to give a salute to Bioware - anyone who worked there in good years, or bad. It's fucking awful, and you deserved better.

Brian Ashford reposted

North Mist Studios
@northmiststudios.bsky.social

Former BioWare Senior Writers Mary Kirby (Varric, Vivienne, Lucanis) and Sylvia Feketekuty (Liara, Josephine, Emmrich) and Sarah Hayward (Former BioWare Cinematic Director) have found a home at North Mist with many others in our network.

North Mist Studios@northmiststudios.bsky.social

Very heavy news as our former studio, BioWare closes its doors today. It was a formative place for many. However, many former BioWare devs are scattered around the industry. Find them, support them. Like, follow, comment and help us prove there is still support for the types of games we make!