iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Michel Maksimova

UIC GEO @uicgeo.org · 18/09/2026

All members are invited to our Membership 101 meeting! RSVP at the first link on our linktree: linktr.ee/uicgeo

The Graduate Employees Organization presents: Membership 101. Arm yourself with the tools of union democracy! In-person session: 9/22, 12pm until 2pm, University Hall room 1430. Virtual session: 9/24, 6:30pm until 8:30pm. New and old members are encouraged to come to this core training. An organization is democratic only if its members know hos it works and how to change it. Lunch wkll be provided at the in-person session. If you've ever asked yourself: What is the organizational structure of GEO? How are our meetings run? How can I change the union? What is solidarity — theoretically and practically? What does it mean to be a good union member? Come to Membership 101!

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 16/09/2026

More than any higher ed development in recent memory, institutional subsidies for AI at R1 universities prove that austerity is a choice. It is not “too expensive” to invest in a humanities research infrastructure; rather, it is a choice that R1 universities make not to & subsidize AI instead.

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

I think I have mutuals from other cities, so to clarify this is in Chicago. Come join us ✊

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UIC GEO @uicgeo.org · 08/05/2026

Join GEO and UICUF on the picket line tomorrow ✊ All allies welcome!

GEO presenting: picketnic. Solidarity lunch with UICUF on the picket line. When: Friday, May 8, from 12pm until 1 pm. Where: outside University Hall. It's a potluck! Bring a dish to share! Snacks, mains, drinks — all welcome. After lunch, we will picket until 4pm! All are welcome.

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UIC Center for Healthy Work @uichealthywork.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Workers Memorial Day and May Day mark two of the biggest days to be in solidarity with the labor movement and continue the fight for healthy, safe, and just working conditions. Here is a list of events to attend, including support for our graduate workers on strike with @uicgeo.org ! #WMD #MayDay

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Kate Lowe (she/hers) @kateontransport.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

UIC works because we do! GEO on strike for a living wage. Their working conditions are our students learning conditions!

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Higher Education Labor United (HELU) @higheredlabor.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

On Monday, @uicgeo.org went out on strike. Yesterday, unions from across Chicago came together to stand in solidarity with UIC-GEO and demand a fair contract. UIC-UF president Aaron Krall talked about cross-union solidarity. Find a higher ed May Day action near you: www.labor4highered.org

"Today we stand with higher ed labor unions from around Chicago and across the country to demand the funding and the freedom we need to teach, learn, and research—not just here, but throughout the United States. For too long, higher ed workers have been either attacked or neglected and too disorganized to defend our sector. But now, together with our national unions and Higher Education Labor United, we are ready to fight for the future of our colleges and universities as a powerful higher education labor movement." – Aaron Krall, UIC-UF President

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UIC GEO @uicgeo.org · 29/04/2026

Hey bluesky! We are on our third day of strike today, demanding fair wages, healthcare, and for UIC to become a sanctuary campus! #UnionPower #Solidarity #Strike

Marching graduate workers carrying a banner that says "Fair Pay"

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

UIC GEO, the graduate workers union at University of Illinois, Chicago, is on strike as of yesterday! UIC admin announced their intent to withhold pay from striking workers. A way to support us would be to contribute to the strike fund today! www.paypal.com/donate/?host...

paypal.com

Donate to AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS 6297 LOCAL UIC GRADUATE ORG IFT-AFT

Help support AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS 6297 LOCAL UIC GRADUATE ORG IFT-AFT by donating or sharing with your friends.

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Among many things happening all at once, I continue seeing queer and/or erotica artists being kicked off platforms due to payment processor pressure. Games, books, illustrations, everything is under attack even more so than it was before.

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

Void🔞 | VGen @voiddebris.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

I know we're upset about itch, but they're not the only ones Payment processors harassed companies bc of a 1,000 email hate campaign But we can EASILY top 1,000! I prewrote an email + got the contact info - you just have to send! ↻💬♡ to boost We CAN make a difference 💕 #itch #censorship 1/🧵

Digital graphic with the text "anti-censorship campaign" and screenshots of headlines about how multiple storefronts have removed NSFW content due to pressure from payment processors and Collective Shout.

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

Void🔞 | VGen @voiddebris.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Complaint letter! You can copy/paste or edit You can use the same info for a call! Paypal: Phone (US): 1-888-221-1161 Phone (outside US): 1-402-935-2050 Hours: 6am - 6pm PT Online (for non-users or logged out - UK bc US site ONLY allows logged in users): www.paypal.com/uk/cshelp/co... 2/🧵

Complaint Letter Template

Customer Complaint Dept,

This message is to lodge an official complaint about the ongoing rampant restrictions your company has placed on legal sales made by legitimate businesses.

These restrictions are not only counter to the concept of freedom of speech and expression, but they harm consumers, businesses, and they harm your company’s bottom line.

The following actions are absolutely necessary to protect the freedoms of your client base and the sustainability of legitimate business practices:

Remove from your Terms of Service any mention barring the use of your service for sale and purchase of legal products.
Contact Steam (Valve), Itch.io, and any other company you have previously put pressure on to retract your content restrictions.
Put in place protections to prevent such restrictions from being put in place in the future without ample warning and time to contest them.

If these changes aren't made then I, along with many others will be forced to seek other options for processing payments.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Customer.

Contact Information

Mastsercard
Phone (US): 1-800-627-8372
Phone (outside US): 1-636-722-7111
Online Form Submission

Visa
Phone (US): 1-800-847-2911
Click Here For Non-US Numbers
Online Form Submission

Paypal
Phone (US): 1-888-221-1161
Phone (outside US): 1-402-935-2050
Hours: 6am - 6pm PT

Online Form Submission
(UK site is linked as you’re able to submit a complaint without an account).

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

Down Here For Your Soul @bombsfall.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

NITW gonna get delisted from search results due to being "too full of that slutty bear with the hat who can't stop staring at me and then ignoring me, like not in the game i mean irl Im speaking to the gay temptation bear and he's not talking back like hes too good for me" and also too socialist

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Here's a resource to tell payment processors to stop censoring queer art and sex work. Includes phone numbers, emails, petitions, some extra tips for Australians. Please tell them to keep their hands off queers 🏳️‍⚧️ yellat.money

yellat.money

Protect Queer Creators and Sex Workers - Tell Payment Processors to STOP

TELL VISA, MASTERCARD, STRIPE, and PayPal to STOP

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

Sock-umentary Filmmaker @dropdownbear.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

HELLO COMRADES Could anyone affected by Itch removing items please send any evidence they may have to myself? I am filing a report with the Australian Consumer Commission, as I have reason to believe that Itch removing access may be a violation of Australian Consumers rights! Drop em below or DM!!

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Supported ACLU a bit as this feels like the most immediate efficient thing I can do. Will look into it more tomorrow.

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arimia @arimiadev.com · 25/02/2025

Trans Joy Jam has wrapped with over 40 new works of fiction (short stories and games) celebrating trans joy brought into the world! Thank you everyone who entered and shared the jam around 💖 Check out all of the entries here: itch.io/jam/trans-jo...

a polka dot background with text on it that says:
Trans Joy Jam

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

No Escape from the Tyranny of Virtue 🏴🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸 @noescapevg.com · 24/07/2025

I don’t agree with the folks saying “lay off Itch they’re just smol beans trying their best” but I do absolutely believe the focus should be on giving payment processors and shitty right wing swerf n terf groups so much fucking hell they can’t function for the next month or six.

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

With limited information that I gleaned, I believe the blame firstly lies with the group Collective Shout and with the the payment processors. That said, itch's response has been dogwater so far.

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

🏳️‍⚧️Aris🇵🇸 XIV 8.0 SPOILERS: Death to Fascism @arisenby.northsky.social · 24/07/2025

leafo could've just fucking posted in the discord "this was not our call, statement coming shortly" but no, he had to fucking hit that "haha o7" in response to you bending the knee to puritan censorship, directly leading to people losing their ability to make money off of their work. shame on yall.

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The Transfeminine Review @thetransfemininereview.com · 24/07/2025

🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: In a dangerous evening escalation of the anti-porn war on the gaming industry, indie platform @itch.io has banned a number of NSFW titles and delisted thousands of others. Trans authors are caught in the crossfire. MasterCard, Visa, and anti-porn group Collective Shout drove the ban.

thetransfemininereview.com

Major Indie Marketplace Itch.io Shadowbans NSFW Content, Trans Authors Impacted

A dangerous escalation against free speech and literary preservation from a longtime haven for transfeminine literature.

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

Bruno Dias @brunodias.dev · 24/07/2025

To connect the recent Steam and Itch situation to another ongoing bit of news: Visa and Mastercard (and other US companies like PayPal, Stripe, and Meta) clearly believe they are entitled to dictate how people spend money not just through their services, but anywhere at all archive.ph/jigm3

Brazil rallies to defend much-loved payment system from Donald Trump’s attack

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

kastelpls (かすっち) @highimpactsex.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

more than ever, games media and bloggers should write and report on queer indie games. we need more attention than ever.

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mads 🐼 @smadseli.northsky.social · 24/07/2025

itch.io banning nsfw/adult terms from its searches with absolutely no warning is a good reminder that the people who make the porn games are ALWAYS more on your side than payment processors and corporations. always. you don’t have to like the games they make, but you do have to stand on their side.

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ebi @ebihimes.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

so itchio has shadowbanned any games tagged with 'nsfw', 'adult', or 'erotic' so they don't show up in searches, and several devs have reported that their r18 games have been removed from the site with no warning

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Naomi Clark (@metasynthie) 暗悪直美 @halfrobot.com · 24/07/2025

Also worth noting: Jenny Jiao Hsia's autobiographical opus Consume Me, which won the Grand Prize at this year's Independent Games Festival along with a few other awards, is also delisted in itch search (but also has a searchable Steam listing)

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Naomi Clark (@metasynthie) 暗悪直美 @halfrobot.com · 24/07/2025

Can confirm that most of the works by @radiatoryang.bsky.social, as well as my own card game (but not the extras, ironically) no longer show up in itch.io search results, much like anything else tagged NSFW, it seems. Good enough art for museums... But not payment processors! itch.io/search?q=Rob...

itch.io

Search results for 'Robert yang'

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Carefully watching the situation with payment processors and itch dot io unfold. Very anxious. This continuous attack on queerness and sexuality is the last thing we need with how deeply messed up everything already is.

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

Bex is WEAK on crime @bextraordinary.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Just had reason to use "This is the skin of a killer, Bella" in Teams chat so I think my work today is done.

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Embarrassing to be partnering with corporations that would (and will) kill us for profit when there are so many AI researchers out there studying the use of AI in education, the ethics of AI and so on. Our fellow colleagues that are overlooked in favor of corpo partnerships.

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Shaved my head and I like how it looks but unfortunately it's giving alt right video blogger

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Mr Sheriffen @mrsheriffen.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

I signed it and so should you, only takes a minute. As a dev I can't imagine spending hundreds or even thousands of hours crafting a world for people to enjoy only for publishers to kill it. #StopKillingGames | #indiegamedev | #indiegame

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Mikko Meriläinen @merilainen.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Super happy that my ongoing game culture questionnaire for men features 50-ish trans respondents, around 8% of respondents so far. Important to remember that "men in gaming" contains so much more than the common stereotype of "20something cishet guys being terrible".

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Adrienne Shaw @adrishaw.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

I started working on the LGBTQ Video Game Archive just over a decade ago (although the site was made public in May 2026). Last semester I used my tuition remission benefits to take a class on infographic design to make a resources to accompany the site (particularly for teachers of all kinds).

lgbtqgamearchive.com

LGBTQ+ Video Game Representation Infographic

Created by Dr. Adrienne Shaw (Temple University) in Fall 2024, this Infographic is intended to provide a basic summary of commonly asked information from the LGBTQ Game Archive as well as some hist…

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Reposted by Michel Maksimova

LGBTQ Game Archive @lgbtqgamearchive.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Day 3 (two more to go!) of smaller sections from the LGBTQ Video Game Archive Infographic, which you can find the full and downloadable PDF versions of here: lgbtqgamearchive.com/lgbtq-video-...

Infographic titled "History of LGBTQ+ Video Game Representation" shows a timeline from 2001 to 2005. It highlights milestones in LGBTQ+ US political history, gaming history, and video game representation, such as mixed-race bisexual protagonists in "Fear Effect 2" (2001), and same-sex marriage options in "Fable" (2005). Also noted are Lawrence v. Texas (2003) and the launch of GamerExperimentations.com (2002). Tone is informative and celebratory. Designed by Adrienne Shaw, LGBTQ+ Game Archive.

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Hibby @hibbythach.com · 28/06/2025

Thanks to the Hollow Knight fan community for making such cool mods for multiplayer co-op And also thanks @michelmaks.bsky.social for setting up a server for us to play

The Hollow Knight starting menu, but it’s Mimikyu instead.

Me offering moral support as Michel fought the boss - I couldn’t help much because the ground collapsed under my character before this.

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Michel Maksimova @michelmaks.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

talking to a friend about how emails used to be cool and not a dreadful overflowing inbox, so now i know what "chain mail" is. we called them "letters of happiness" and, according to wikipedia, japan also has "lucky letters" and "unlucky letters". really fascinating stuff.

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Bex is WEAK on crime @bextraordinary.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Today in "not hopeless bullshit," at least this mug turned out nicely 😭 I don't wanna have to give up pottery.

A grid of four photos showing different angles of a squat rainbow-colored mug.

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Julia Serano @juliaserano.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

a short mini-thread about the “angry trans woman” trope:

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DesertHarper @desertharper.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

If you're protesting today, I have a free printable/foldable zine about how to protest safely. The phone numbers on the last page are for my state, but you can always write your own. Everything from what to wear to how to act for safety. Get one now! ko-fi.com/s/c80c5cf9b8

ko-fi.com

How To Protest Safely Pocket Zine - Thorn Cake Zines's Ko-fi Shop

A mini-zine with information collated from several reputable sites including the ALCU. This particular version has phone numbers for lawyers in New Me...

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