Ashley Flanagan
@ashflanagan.bsky.social
Ash • any pronouns • classicist @ academia ➡️ Game Designer @ Pipeworks ➡️ Destiny Historian @ Bungie ➡️ Senior Narrative Designer @ Hearthstone • personal account
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
I need people to wrap their minds around the fact that here in Minneapolis, ICE broke the window of a vehicle yesterday, pepper sprayed the occupants, and arrested them, and shot another observer in the face today, and OBSERVERS ARE STILL GOING OUT TO PROTECT THEIR NEIGHBORS AT MASSIVE PERSONAL RISK
I’m eating lunch, I’m having a panic attack, I’m charging my phone, and then I’m going back out to try and keep my neighborhood safe.
January 7, 2026 at 5:47 PM
I need people to wrap their minds around the fact that here in Minneapolis, ICE broke the window of a vehicle yesterday, pepper sprayed the occupants, and arrested them, and shot another observer in the face today, and OBSERVERS ARE STILL GOING OUT TO PROTECT THEIR NEIGHBORS AT MASSIVE PERSONAL RISK
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
Note to news orgs: You don't have to use "allegedly" when there's tons of video evidence that said she did not try to run over ICE officers
January 7, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Note to news orgs: You don't have to use "allegedly" when there's tons of video evidence that said she did not try to run over ICE officers
I think the funniest thing I've ever seen on here was somebody insisting you have to call them skeets or you'll sound out of touch with the site culture. Nobody ever says skeet
January 7, 2026 at 6:18 PM
I think the funniest thing I've ever seen on here was somebody insisting you have to call them skeets or you'll sound out of touch with the site culture. Nobody ever says skeet
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
The studio announced it had formed a union, joining CWA Canada, mere weeks ago.
Ubisoft has announced the closure of its Halifax studio, which had been working on mobile titles for Rainbow Six and Assassin's Creed.
www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-shut...
www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-shut...
Ubisoft shuttering freshly-unionised Halifax studio, 71 jobs affected
The studio is the latest to be hit by the company's ongoing cutbacks.
www.gamesindustry.biz
January 7, 2026 at 3:27 PM
The studio announced it had formed a union, joining CWA Canada, mere weeks ago.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
The ICE presence here is so loathsome it has basically foreclosed all other political or organizing thought for me. There is nothing more urgent than dismantling this. There is nothing good that can happen before doing so. it is an abomination and a stain on all of us every second it continues
December 14, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The ICE presence here is so loathsome it has basically foreclosed all other political or organizing thought for me. There is nothing more urgent than dismantling this. There is nothing good that can happen before doing so. it is an abomination and a stain on all of us every second it continues
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
People who fancy quoting the Melian Dialogue ("the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must") ignore the fact that Thucydides was clearly portraying this as the kind of hubris that squandered Athens' primacy and paved the way for a devastating peer war that it ultimately lost.
January 7, 2026 at 3:36 AM
People who fancy quoting the Melian Dialogue ("the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must") ignore the fact that Thucydides was clearly portraying this as the kind of hubris that squandered Athens' primacy and paved the way for a devastating peer war that it ultimately lost.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
I spent an excessive number of years moderating a gaming forum and I learned a great deal about community spaces and cultivation, whether I wanted to or not. I have critical advice for anyone who runs a game store or gaming convention. Please share this thread with people who run those things.
January 6, 2026 at 8:09 PM
I spent an excessive number of years moderating a gaming forum and I learned a great deal about community spaces and cultivation, whether I wanted to or not. I have critical advice for anyone who runs a game store or gaming convention. Please share this thread with people who run those things.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
This is the most concise encapsulation of the game industry heading into 2026 I’ve seen.
PlayStation's top five most-played games of 2025 are exactly the same as 2024's
www.eurogamer.net/playstations...
www.eurogamer.net/playstations...
January 6, 2026 at 11:14 PM
This is the most concise encapsulation of the game industry heading into 2026 I’ve seen.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
I'm wrapping up a major contract this month, so: hire me! I'm a writer/narrative designer/systems designer with a decade of industry experience and a lot of experience taming the complexity of intricate systems. Let me build your storylet system or write disquieting prose for you!
January 6, 2026 at 3:31 PM
I'm wrapping up a major contract this month, so: hire me! I'm a writer/narrative designer/systems designer with a decade of industry experience and a lot of experience taming the complexity of intricate systems. Let me build your storylet system or write disquieting prose for you!
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
u heard sharon, everyone post about their esoteric interests right fucking now. for the good of the community, we need to be hyperfixationmaxxing.
i think this site really needs to figure out how to grow the non-politics verticals (the baseball moment was a good thing!) because i suspect a lot of the bad clusters come out of the political clusters driving 95% of ENG-lang posts
I'd be happy with big non politics accounts.
January 5, 2026 at 9:57 PM
u heard sharon, everyone post about their esoteric interests right fucking now. for the good of the community, we need to be hyperfixationmaxxing.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
Pax Americana is over right now. It is not over forever. The rapid and unpleasant consequences of there not being a Pax Americana affect everyone, including Americans, and right now ppl's safest bet remains on Dems crippling, then overthrowing, then extinguishing MAGA.
I think there are plausible futures where we are friendly with Europe, or weaker allies to Europe.
but the Pax Americana is over
but the Pax Americana is over
January 6, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Pax Americana is over right now. It is not over forever. The rapid and unpleasant consequences of there not being a Pax Americana affect everyone, including Americans, and right now ppl's safest bet remains on Dems crippling, then overthrowing, then extinguishing MAGA.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
critical theory just keeps getting proven right. “Whiteness is constructed around power, not ethnicity.” Without that insight, explain why you’ve got Latinos like James Fishback expressly endorsing great replacement and white genocide theories
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
January 6, 2026 at 2:05 AM
critical theory just keeps getting proven right. “Whiteness is constructed around power, not ethnicity.” Without that insight, explain why you’ve got Latinos like James Fishback expressly endorsing great replacement and white genocide theories
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
The idea that taking Greenland is vital for US security is absurd when you consider that doing it would cost us our alliance with the rest of the developed world, including our northern neighbor.
TAPPER: Can you rule out the US is going to take Greenland by force?
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
January 6, 2026 at 1:48 AM
The idea that taking Greenland is vital for US security is absurd when you consider that doing it would cost us our alliance with the rest of the developed world, including our northern neighbor.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
Starting to think maybe the way public health agencies should have gone was to run PSAs featuring bearded, shirtless bodybuilders getting shots without flinching, with the caption, "I'M MAXXINATED"
January 2, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Starting to think maybe the way public health agencies should have gone was to run PSAs featuring bearded, shirtless bodybuilders getting shots without flinching, with the caption, "I'M MAXXINATED"
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
not beating the allegations that antivax beliefs are downstream of being afwaid of needles
Trump: "Effective today, America will no longer require 72 'jabs' for our beautiful, healthy children. We are moving to a far more reasonable Schedule, where all children will only be recommended to receive Vaccinations for 11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases."
January 5, 2026 at 11:49 PM
not beating the allegations that antivax beliefs are downstream of being afwaid of needles
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
we've got some ICE shit going down in our little town today and it took like three minutes for a convoy of wine moms to start chasing them around town. normies hate this shit and are putting in the work
January 5, 2026 at 8:44 PM
we've got some ICE shit going down in our little town today and it took like three minutes for a convoy of wine moms to start chasing them around town. normies hate this shit and are putting in the work
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
The vaccine autism thing is bullshit but even if you believed it, it seems incredibly fucked up to then believe that raising child death rates is some sort of worthwhile trade-off to reduce autism rates
BREAKING: CDC announces an unprecedented overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule, a significant shift that recommends fewer shots for all kids.
CDC overhauls childhood vaccine schedule to resemble Denmark in unprecedented move
The new U.S. guidelines recommend all children get vaccines for 11 diseases, compared with the 18 previously on the schedule.
nbcnews.to
January 5, 2026 at 7:41 PM
The vaccine autism thing is bullshit but even if you believed it, it seems incredibly fucked up to then believe that raising child death rates is some sort of worthwhile trade-off to reduce autism rates
If you tried an open source office suite ten years ago you might have found it janky and hard to get used to. That's not true anymore! LibreOffice really is just the good version now!
January 5, 2026 at 7:06 PM
If you tried an open source office suite ten years ago you might have found it janky and hard to get used to. That's not true anymore! LibreOffice really is just the good version now!
It's a great time to switch to LibreOffice! It's free and does everything you want from MS Office, at this point better and easier.
January 5, 2026 at 7:04 PM
It's a great time to switch to LibreOffice! It's free and does everything you want from MS Office, at this point better and easier.
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, offices felt like relics of the past. Now, companies are enforcing return-to-office mandates that don’t seem to make sense for employer or employee—at least on the surface. Writer Kathy Chow investigates: thewalrus.ca/return-to-office...
January 5, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, offices felt like relics of the past. Now, companies are enforcing return-to-office mandates that don’t seem to make sense for employer or employee—at least on the surface. Writer Kathy Chow investigates: thewalrus.ca/return-to-office...
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
is it just me or does this REEK of desperation, especially coming on the heels of the "don't call it slop!" corncobbing earlier
January 5, 2026 at 6:43 PM
is it just me or does this REEK of desperation, especially coming on the heels of the "don't call it slop!" corncobbing earlier
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
January 5, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
i think people are wildly overestimating the level of strategic thinking behind what just happened in venezuela
January 5, 2026 at 1:53 PM
i think people are wildly overestimating the level of strategic thinking behind what just happened in venezuela
Reposted by Ashley Flanagan
yep. i can identify any number of structural issues but at the end of the day the basic problem is the republican party. this has been apparent for at least 20 years. it is also an incredibly unpopular observation to make among “serious” people.
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
a lot of problems wouldn't exist if we had a congress with even an ounce of self interest
January 4, 2026 at 11:52 PM
yep. i can identify any number of structural issues but at the end of the day the basic problem is the republican party. this has been apparent for at least 20 years. it is also an incredibly unpopular observation to make among “serious” people.