Tabitha (misinformation hater)
LightNews LightNews
banner
tabithawrites.itch.io
Tabitha (misinformation hater)
@tabithawrites.itch.io
930 followers 310 following 1.1K posts
Writer & editor, animal lover, local history & architecture nerd, queer fiction fan | Ace & agender | 🚫 genAI
Books: tabithaoconnell.com
Interactive fiction: alyshkalia.itch.io
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/tabithaoconnell
ey/em or they/them
Posts Replies Media Videos
tabithawrites.itch.io
12 hours left to grab the Trans People Take on the World bundle! 32 books by trans authors featuring trans characters, all for $35.

itch.io/b/3352/trans...
graphic with text reading: Trans People Take on the World. Nov 1-15, Itchio. below are 32 book covers: The Strangers Sanctuary, S.E. Robertson What Lies Within, Issy Waldon Synthetic Sea, Franklyn S. Newton Non-Player Character, Veo Corva A Life in Too Many Margins, S.E. Thomson Like Salt and Whi Sky, Merlina Garance A Memory of Blood and Magic, K.N. Brindle My Personal Trainer Cracked My Egg, Fern V. Bedek Enemies to Enemies, Ash Kreider The Poison Fruits, E.M. Haegar The Thread That Binds, Cedar McCloud The Wings of Ashtaroth, Steve Hugh Westenra The Elysium Proposal, A.E. Bross Structural Integrity, Tabitha O'Connell Songs of Broken Bells, Lilly Lockwood Echo Sight, Cian Verath The Uncontinented Stars, Haden Cross Between You, Me and the Moonlit Sea, Linn Silver Secondhand Origin Storie, Lee Brontide Blood On The Snow, Finn McLellan Manipulators War, Elise Carlson Powder & Feathers, Johannes T. Evans Our Simulated Selves, Nikki Null All Roads Lead to This, Kay Claire 1000Lotuses, Lotuscarp.com First Rose, Jake Vanguard A Demon to Save Me, H.S. Kallinger Dragons Soul, J.F.R. Coates Garden of Rotten Roses, Nicole Hidalgo Name Her Holy, Aubrey Ennis Baker Thief, Claudie Arsenault Illusory, M.X. Misfits
November 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
#AceWeek sale! 26 ace books for $26! (including one by me!)

itch.io/b/3322/ace-p...
Promotional image for Ace Pride Week Bundle #2 All books in this bundle have either a major character that identifies on the ace spectrum, an ace-identifying author, or BOTH! Oct. 19-25. 26 Books, $26.00 Book covers pictured are: Non-Player Character by Veo Corva Journey Home by May Barros Triple Strike: Threads of Fate by G.M. Gray Wherever the Stars Call by S. Jean Yours Celestially by Al Hess The Star-Crossed Empire by Maya Darjani The Audacity 1 by Carmen Loup The Thirteenth Key by Cara Nox In the Eye of the Beholder by Beverly Anne Michel A Designer Magick by Stefanie Carter Bloody Spade by Brittany M. Willows Structural Integrity by Tabitha O'Connell Curse of Souls by Niranjan The Thread That Binds by Cedar McCloud Of Spells and Love by Odessa Silver Courtly Love by T.D. Cloud Song of the Wolf T.C. Smith The Dragon Next Door by Vanessa Ricci-Thode The Grand Duke's Masseur by sbdrag Blood by D.C. Hart Lantern by Burgundy Athena Pendragon Inarora's Excursion by Astrid E. Abell The Blood Divide by Zan Lowell The Towers of Nine by Alyssa Louttit Walking the Knife's Edge by Elise Carlson Junk Junction by William C. Tracy
October 21, 2025 at 11:13 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
#AceWeek sale--get this bundle of 50 ace books for only $50! (including one by me!)

itch.io/b/3318/ace-p...
Graphic advertising the Ace Pride Week itch.io mega bundle. Oct 19 - 25. 50+ books for $50! All books by ace authors and/or ft. ace characters across a variety of genres! riyati.ink/acepride2025 Book covers for the following books are listed top left to bottom right: Non-player Character - Veo Corva A Dragon’s Treasure - Elis Madsen The Blood Divide - Zan Lowell The Grand Duke’s Masseur Child of the Forest - Audrey Simmons Wherever the Stars Call - S. Jean How Six Saved the Grogs - Blaine D. Arden City of Strike - Claudie Arseneault In Spite of the Inevitable - Morgan Biscup Structural Integrity - Tabitha O’Connell Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver Inarora’s Excursion - Astrid E. Abell Puppetry - Nina Waters Sidetracked - S. K. Kelley Lost Blades - Liz Sauco Claimed by the Undead - C. L. Carhart The Star-Crossed Empire - Maya Darjani Triple Strike Threads of Fate - G. M. Grey Curse of Souls - Niranjan Courtly Love - T. D. Cloud Song of the Wolf - T. C. Smith Blood - D. C. Hart Chai and Cat-tales - Lynn Strong The Thirteenth Key - Cara Nox The Dragon Next Door - Vanessa Ricci-Thode Walking the Knife’s Edge - Elise Carlson Yours Celestically - Al Hess Pet - H. S. Kallinger The One He Brought Home - Skye Kilaen Junk Junction - Sara Codair Secondhand Origin Storie - Lee Brontido Riyati Rebirth - Kai Zeal Bridges of Smoke - Julie March The Whisperer in White - Y. R. Liu In the Eye of the Beholder - Beverly Anne Michel Peace in the Sky - Caye Marsh A Spark in Space - Janina Franck Journey Home - May Barros Doce Drosera - Anita The Audacity - Carmen Loup Bloody Space - Brittany M. Willows Enemies to Enemies - Ash Kreider Devil’s Deal - Tessa Hastjarjanto Merchants of Knowledge and Magic - Erika McCorkle A Life in Too Many Margins - S. E. Thomson Where We Converge - A. E. Bross Lantern - Burgundy Athena Pendragon A Designer Magick - Fox N. Locke The Harmony of Falling Snow - Andora Brohaw The Thread That Binds - Cedar McCloud Towers of Nine - Alyssa Louttit
October 21, 2025 at 11:10 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
reposting with alt text! (also, i still have my childhood best friend's phone number memorized from 20 years ago)
screenshot from r/CasualConversation posted 2 days ago by TotalThing7 Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing? I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up. Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?
October 14, 2025 at 1:12 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
very excited to be starting this one! @elizmanderson.com
photo of a white hand holding the book "The Keeper of Lonely Spirits" by E.M. Anderson
October 7, 2025 at 8:51 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
It's another Itch bundle, this one for speculative fiction set in secondary worlds! 23 books (including two of mine!) for only $25, now through Sept 22.

itch.io/b/3254/new-w...
Graphic depicting 23 book covers (list below). Text reads: "New Worlds, New Adventures. September 16-22. 23 books - $25. itch.io" Books: The Kalista Chronicles: A Brave Sacrifice The Spider's Friend Shadows Dark and Deadly War Heart A Light for the Dead to Follow The Dragon Next Door Undine's Blessing Love Tales from the Borun-Ma First Snow Usurper Thief, Acolyte, Consort The Warm Machine The Star-Crossed Empire Structural Integrity Structural Strain Inarora's Excursion Song of the Wolf Hallowed 1# Cosmonaut In Spite of the Inevitable The Healer: Tales of Pern Coen The Sarcophagus of Lamia The Flame of the Dragon's Oath
September 16, 2025 at 9:19 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
My short story "After the Curse" is currently featured in a FREE short story bundle on Itch! Grab over 20 stories from now through the 22nd. Tips welcome but not required!

itch.io/b/3272/free-...
Cover art for many short stories with a red and orange overlay. Text atop reads “Free Short Story Bundle. September 15th-22nd” and “20+ Stories”. Red and orange background with a blue book cover in the center. Cover has a sprig of red tomatoes and handwritten text reading “After the Curse” and “Tabitha O’Connell.” Text above and below reads “Free Short Story Bundle. September 15th-22nd” and “20+ Stories”.
September 15, 2025 at 8:50 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
i'm a nonbinary author of traditional and interactive fiction!

books: fantasy romance novellas. blurbs & links at tabithaoconnell.com

interactive fiction: short works, many queer, often with multiple paths/endings. play at alyshkalia.itch.io
Graphic labeled "Trans books by a nonbinary author". Three books by Tabitha O'Connell are depicted: "Structural Integrity" has an illustrated cover with a young man walking toward an ornate wooden door looking back over his shoulder and holding out his hand to a man who stands in the lower left corner, his head and shoulders visible from the back. “Structural Strain” has an illustration in the same style of two men standing in front of an archway with a building in the background. One, wearing a green robe, stands right at the edge of the arch with a nervous expression, holding a suitcase in front of him. The other is in the foreground, only visible from the waist up, and is facing the first man with his hand held out. text beside these two reads "Trans man x cis man, dual POV". the third book is "Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin", which has a border of leaves and red roses, with the title text in a decorative font taking up most of the space. The title is overlaid on a castle with a blue sky behind it. in the foreground is the back of a person with short hair in a plain shirt standing facing the castle. text beside this one reads "Nonbinary MC (ey/em pronouns)". text with arrows pointing to all three reads "Strong character arcs, Cozy domestic moments, Dose of angst"
September 8, 2025 at 7:57 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
i got to see shirley jackson's houses in north bennington, vermont today!
a large greek-revival-style house surrounded by vegetation. two-story columns support a massive pediment. a large italianate-style house flanked by trees. it has a full-width porch with elaborate decorative woodwork.
August 31, 2025 at 1:15 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
i'm not sure how we got from "creator pages containing NSFW works are blocked in the UK" to "itch is mass-banning queer content in the UK". they're just not the same thing!
screenshot of bsky post by Anarchy Goose, ‪@anarchygoose.bsky.social‬, dated August 26, 2025 This is something that got lost a little in the wider Itch wildness but Itch has banned almost all queer content from the UK citing the OSA, even though that isn't what the OSA requires and almost certainly nobody asked them to. They are a wildly incompetent company, regardless of wider issues. quoted post by Ela Bambust, ‪@ela-bambust.bsky.social‬: @itch.io is this something y'all did on your end or is this the UK government because if my *page* is hidden now I'd like to know
August 26, 2025 at 10:43 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
My novella DIRT-STAINED HANDS, THORN-PIERCED SKIN is on sale through the 25th as part of the #NarratessIndieSale!

Full synopsis and purchase links at tabithaoconnell.com/dshtps.

Check out the 300+ other books currently on sale at indiebook.sale!
Graphic with a book cover and short text at the top. the book is "Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin" by Tabitha O'Connell. It has a border of leaves and red roses, with the title text in a decorative font taking up most of the space. The title is overlaid on a castle with a blue sky behind it. in the foreground is the back of a person with short hair in a plain shirt standing facing the castle. text beside it reads: A queer Beauty and the Beast retelling starring a snarky nonbinary farmer struggling to end a bad relationship and a shy, sweet man stuck in a magical castle. 99 cents. below, a banner reads "Indie Book Sale. indiebook.sale. Fantasy, sci-fi-, and horror. August 23-25."
August 23, 2025 at 2:57 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
The August 2025 #NarratessIndieSale is on! From now until the 25th, over 300 indie books are discounted from $1.99 to free, including my novella DIRT-STAINED HANDS, THORN-PIERCED SKIN (on sale for $0.99!). Check out all the participating books at indiebook.sale.
graphic with a banner over 24 book covers. banner text reads "Indie Book Sale. indiebook.sale. Fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. August 23-25"
August 23, 2025 at 12:34 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
From now through the 25th, you can get my novella DIRT-STAINED HANDS, THORN-PIERCED SKIN as part of either of these two #NarratessIndieSale Itch bundles!

Short stories & novellas bundle: itch.io/b/3243/narra...

Fantasy bundle #3: itch.io/b/3240/narra...
A graphic with 25 book covers. Caption text reads: "Narratess Indie Book Sale August 2025. Short Stories & Novellas Bundle. itch.io” books depicted are: The Living Sword by Pemry Janes Tales of Lunis Aquaria by Tessa Hastjarjanto Killer Debt: An Anthology of Murder by Dianna Gunn Dame Ophis by Merlina Garance Werecockroach by Polenth Blake Running with the Wolf by Bryony Rosehurst Journey Home by May Barros Water’s Edge by Ellie Lieberman Og-Grim-Dog: The Three-Headed Ogre by Jamie Edmundson Grey Angel by Dani Finn Chai and Cat-tales by Lynn Strong Unburnt by A.M. Weald Of All the Stars by Kris Madigan Flooded Secrets by Claudie Arseneault The Selkie and the Minstrel by Elis Madsen Moral Laundry by Conrad Altmann Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin by Tabitha O’Connell Cat/Mouse: An Allied Space novella by Eliza Mares The Hand That Feeds by Sass Everett Like a Bullet to the Head by Claude Hamesh Dirt You Shall Become by Karen Lykkebo Tales of Yamato by Odessa Silver Lantern by Burgundy Athena Pendragon Dark Heart of Ilmoure by Cara N. Delaney Bad Grains by Susanne Schmidt A graphic with 24 book covers. Caption text reads: "Narratess Indie Book Sale, August 2025. Fantasy Bundle #3. itch.io” books depicted are: The Whisperer in White by Y. R. Liu Higanbana by Jake Vanguard Dame Ophis by Merlina Garance The Lion by Lee Burton Grey Angel by Dani Finn Children of the Dragon by Melissa Stone The Grand Duke’s Masseur by Rori Thornton Ghosts of the Catabombs by Janna Ruth Children by Bjørn Larssen An Uncommon Curse by Devan Barlow The Dragon Next Door by Vanessa Ricci-Thode Flooded Secrets by Claudie Arseneault Carp in the Pond, Crane on the River by Ruth Miranda Tales of Yamato by Odessa Silver Far Removed by C. B. Lansdell Blood by D.C. Hart A Path of Endless Crossroads by M.C. Burnell Soultaming the Serpent by Tar Atore Durga by Geetha Krishnan Blind the Eyes: Enter the City of Nightmares (Threads of Dreams 1) by K.A. Wiggins How Six Saved the Frogs by Blaine D. Arden Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin by Tabitha O’Connell Between Starfalls by S. Kaeth When the Stars Alight by Camilla Andrew
August 23, 2025 at 12:29 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
who wants to be the 100th backer *and* push the Plot Twist Cafe Kickstarter over $12k??

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bai...
screenshot of a webpage showing $11,954 pledged of $15,000 goal. 99 backers, 28 hours to go.
August 23, 2025 at 12:14 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
best novel origin story

(from the 1971 introduction to Maurice by E. M. Forster; introduction by P. N. Furbank)
Then, in September 1913, he went on a visit to Edward Carpenter, the prophet of the simple life and high-minded homosexuality, and he experienced a revelation. He has described what took place in his own Terminal Note (see page 235): Carpenter's friend George Merrill touched him on the backside, and the sensation, as he put it, travelled straight through the small of his back into his ideas. On the instant, an entire new novel shaped itself in his mind: it was to deal with homosexuality, would feature three main characters, and would have a happy ending.
August 18, 2025 at 8:02 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
medium.com/@hyenablood/...
screenshot of text: Obscenity censorship does not coalesce in a vacuum and I think it is journalistic malpractice to report on it as if a campaign’s superficial goals are the finish line. People should be fully informed on how these groups attempt to manipulate them with reasonable complaints while either neglecting to mention the scope of their own intentions or the beliefs and motivations of groups they associate with.
August 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
tabithawrites.itch.io
a great article!
screenshot of text: In addition to these concerns, the de-indexing has caused a lot of confusion and misinformation. Press and players cited Consume Me and Mouthwashing as examples of affected games, but Itch had actually de-indexed both games before receiving pressure from payment processors, for unrelated reasons. The mess has caused some developers to criticize Itch fiercely, claiming the storefront should have done more, both to protect developers and warn them about what was happening. Lawhead, however, believes that Itch deserves some benefit of the doubt. "They don't have the resources that a place like Steam does," Lawhead said. "They are about as indie as I am. It's not hard to knock something like that off its feet and make it impossible for it to get back up... The only way to fight this is to understand that we are all in this together, and that includes Itch.io too."
August 17, 2025 at 12:45 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
image reposted with alt text!
post from ‪mady castigan ‪@madycast.com‬ every time itch lies, a trans journalist thrives! I am going to keep using your replies to fundraise for more journalism! did you know you can also support us with a monthly membership at our website? this helps us have predictable income and stability! transnews.network/upgrade. the post quote posts itch.io saying: That game still meets the criteria for deindexing, we never stated otherwise. In this case it's a game that accepts payments and has been tagged by the author as NSFW and has the addition of a tag suggesting sexual content, "eroge".
August 15, 2025 at 9:46 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
in contrast:
screenshot of a bluesky post by mady castigan @madycast.com from 8 hours ago. isn't it super cool when a company that supposedly supports queer people instigates harassment on a trans journalist by latching on to a gamergate-style smear campaign against her and her colleagues? I'm not going to engage with any of this. It's a complete waste of time. We stand by our reporting.
August 15, 2025 at 9:40 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
👏
screenshot of text: "If you’ve opened up a few of these sites and grimaced at the mention of PayPal, Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa, then congrats! There’s no escaping the sweeping NSFW bans forever until we make payment processors and their banking partners back down from enforcing their puritan bullshit on us. There’s also no real replacement for itchio at this time that’s going to allow queer creators of all types of work to connect with their audiences in the same way they have in the recent past, or a place that’s going to allow so many creators to bundle up their works to fundraise for themselves or a charity. While itchio may not be perfect, it is a platform I believe is worth protecting, or at least not destroying if you actually care about the wellbeing of poor trans queer creators like us. We have got to fight for each other in all of this, or at least stop cannibalizing the folks trying to main any kind of transparency just because you’re more likely to have a conversation with them than some jackass on his sixth yacht." the second-to-last sentence is highlighted.
August 15, 2025 at 2:31 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
article has been updated to note Itch's response
screenshot of text: Update: Itch.io have responded to the report from Trans News Network on Bluesky, claiming the article is "full of misinformation". "I haven't had a chance to look up everything individually, but I do want to note that we have [an] existing set of indexing rules that can impact indexing," the storefront's account wrote in a separate reply. "There are circumstances where pages may get marked as requiring human review before being eligible for indexing. This is completely independent of the indexing eligibility change for adult works."
August 15, 2025 at 2:22 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
phew glad to see there is widespread support for calling out the BS. image reposted with alt text
screenshot of posts from mady castigan @madycast.com: This particular staffer has spent days lying that Itch isn't delisting non NSFW games and defending Itch's decisions in a condescending tone to community members in their discord. while weaponizing their identity as a queer artist to try to stifle community dissent. [screenshots from discord, text is small and hard to read] mady goes on: my personal stance: obviously don't harass this staffer, but I think it's bad when higher income/less marginalized trans women weaponize their identities to justify the oppression of poorer trans and queer people and defend corporations, and worth calling out! this is exactly why we criticize Sarah McBride, and equally goes for all queer people or POC who weapons their identities to protect corporate interests or fascists. you either stick with us and fight, or take the side Of corporations over the hungry queer artists being starved by their decisions.
August 15, 2025 at 2:09 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
THIS is how misinformation happens. "my games don't show up in autocomplete" does not mean the games are deindexed. a journalist's assumption that it did mean that started this whole mess, and the journalist refuses to admit she was wrong.
post by mira @thefreeradical.org Krispycat responded to me, I reached out to her for private comment. Go give her a follow, by the way, and support her games - she's caught up in the middle of this, so we may as well support an indie queer dev. @butterflylatte.bsky.social two images are attached screenshot of DM between mira and butterlylatte mira: Hi! I'm working on a response to Itch's claim that SFW games are 'actually' indexed. Are you able to confirm when you last saw your games were deindexed, when they were reindexed, and them still being invisible on autocomplete? butterlylatte: Yes, I'll do my best. I checked to see if my own games were still indexed on July 23, when this whole shitstorm started. At the time, they were. The Seventh Bride still showed up in autocomplete when I did a search. As of 7/28, it no longer appeared in auto complete. I checked my other games and none of them appeared either. So between those five days, it was deindexed, as was all my other games when I did a search. continuation of butterflylatte's message from the prior image: I just did a search for The Seventh Bride and Like Seafoam. Neither appear in autocomplete. Like Seafoam appears in the search results proper as of today, 8/13. The Seventh Bride does not.
August 15, 2025 at 1:47 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
working for itch does not make one a "traitorqueer", oh my god 😭
Mira ‪@thefreeradical.org‬ anytime a minority figure whose doing a harmful action / is complicit in some sort of oppressive bs is criticized, you'll see people come in troves arguing that their minority status means that you cant criticize them, actually, and are bad for doing so. ignore them - traitorqueers arent our pals people did this for mcbride, and now they're doing it for some itch transfem staffer that my colleague criticized. they've done it in the past for abusers in DSA, people have done it for ppl i have personal beef with, people have done it in orgs like PSL to cover up abuse, etc etc etc
August 15, 2025 at 1:33 AM
tabithawrites.itch.io
if someone can point me to this so-called hate mob, please do! i'd love to connect with others who are dedicated to calling out misinfo
post by mady castigan ‪@madycast.com‬ controversial opinion but spending hours ginning up a massive hate mob by lying about a transfem of color journalist to all your followers in order to defend a corporation that is actively destroying the lives of dozens of poor trans people actually doesn't make you woke
August 15, 2025 at 1:31 AM